Impending 2034 Saudi World Cup latest blot on stained FIFA copybook

Around the time of the 2026 World Cup bidding process, with FIFA's reputation in shreds following major scandals, there were green shoots that the organisation could change.

Having awarded the World Cup to Qatar in 2010 without any conditions on human rights protections - despite the country’s poor record in that area and massive infrastructure deficit - as well as the financial scandals that had engulfed the governing body, it appeared that measures were being taken for a more transparent future.

New human rights requirements for tournaments, developed with the technical support of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, were implemented for the first time, requiring candidate host cities to engage with local stakeholders along the way.

"It was really the first global body to include human rights requirements as part of the selection processes," Steve Cockburn, head of labour rights and sport at Amnesty International, tells RTÉ Sport.

"That was a very positive moment in global sport and could have set an example for others."

For an organisation whose prominent past employees include Jack Warner, Chuck Blazer and Sepp Blatter, perhaps it was little surprise that that the new-found sense of morality was built on quicksand.

Those human rights processes for which FIFA was lauded may still exist formally, but in practice they have been quickly discarded.

Last year, the closed FIFA Council suddenly produced an unprecedented plan to combine rival bids for a 2030 tournament - games will be played in Africa, Europe and South America - paving the way for Saudi Arabia in 2034 as the only bidder.

FIFA has yet to explain why it only allowed countries in Asia and Oceania to bid for 2034 when North and Central