DFB wants to vote for the World Cup in Saudi Arabia

The German Football Association (DFB) has voted for Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 World Cup. This was found out by RTL/ntv, which was like that star belong to RTL Deutschland, from circles of the DFB presidium. At a closed meeting in Blankenhain, Thuringia, at the beginning of November, DFB President Bernd Neuendorf discussed with the participants the World Cup awards for 2030 and 2034, which are to take place at the digital congress of the World Football Association (Fifa) on December 11th.

There was agreement that the DFB would vote in the formal award for the 2030 World Cup in Morocco, Portugal and Spain as well as for the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia. Both tournaments are available for voting in a common package, so voting for an individual tournament is not possible. According to RTL/ntv information, the DFB presidium did not discuss a possible request for separate votes on the respective host countries or an abstention.

Most recently, Amnesty International called on FIFA to halt the process of selecting Saudi Arabia as the 2034 World Cup host unless comprehensive human rights reforms are announced by next month’s vote. Regarding the DFB’s decision, Katja Müller-Fahlbusch from Amnesty International said it was “a bitter disappointment and a serious blow to human rights.” The DFB was asked to reject this: “If the DFB now approves this application, then ultimately the feeling will remain that, despite all the nice words and declarations, human rights will be subordinated to other interests when push comes to shove.”

When asked by RTL/ntv, the DFB denied that there had been a final decision in favor of Morocco, Portugal, Spain and Saudi Arabia during the talks in Blankenhain. “The previous process was outlined at the executive committee’s closed meeting in Blankenhain. A final decision on how the DFB is positioning itself cannot have been made because there are still further discussions on the topic mentioned,” it said somewhat awkwardly.

Former DFB director Oliver Bierhoff, meanwhile, advocated a pragmatic approach to hosts of major sporting events and remembered the 2022 World Cup in the Emirate of Qatar: “We’ve fallen a bit short in Qatar. You just have to say, the world has it The World Cup in Qatar is generally viewed quite positively. “Bierhoff sees politicians as having a duty to provide guidelines for dealing with autocracies such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia: “I always have this yardstick for myself “As long as we don’t have any restrictions from the federal government or business is being done with the states, you can do sports there too!”