…Here is another number: 21,000. It is the total of Nepali, Bangladeshi and Indian workers reported to have died in Saudi Arabia since its Vision 2030 plan was launched in April 2016. That was just one revelation from an ITV documentary, undertaken amid extreme risk, screened on Sunday night. Kingdom Uncovered: Inside Saudi Arabia showed snapshots of a world those reimagining the vast desert state would rather you did not see; images Fifa might prefer you believe are merely a trick of the light. Six and a half weeks before the Saudis’ 2034 World Cup bid goes through on the nod, we really are back here.

It is easy to scoff at some of the stadium designs revealed in the Saudis’ official bid submission three months ago. …

Saudi Arabia has already made a mockery of anyone doubting whether, when something needs doing, it will be made to happen at all costs. Take the example of Neom, on which the ITV programme dwells at particular and appropriate length. It detailed how much of the land earmarked for the project was inhabited by the Huwaitat tribe…

… “We are treated like beggars,” one anonymous worker tells ITV’s undercover reporter, explaining that he regularly works 16-hour days and goes two weeks without a day off. …