FIFA has been urged to halt a vote to hand Saudi Arabia hosting rights to the 2034 men’s World Cup by human rights groups, amid fears many migrant workers will die unless there is credible reform.

National associations are set to vote at an extraordinary FIFA Congress on December 11, with Saudi Arabia the sole bidder.

Amnesty International and the Sport and Rights Alliance (SRA) say as things stand, a tournament in Saudi Arabia will lead to severe and widespread rights violations…

There has also been criticism that Saudi Arabia’s hosting of 2034 was engineered by FIFA. It confirmed on October 4 last year that only applications from countries in Asia and Oceania would be accepted for 2034, and then allowed less than a month for declarations of interest to be lodged…

A FIFA spokesperson said: “FIFA is implementing thorough bidding processes for the 2030 and 2034 editions of the FIFA World Cup, in line with previous processes for the selection of hosts for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand, the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the United States, Mexico and Canada and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 in Brazil.”