The Premier League Panel: Matt gets on his soapbox about the 2034 FIFA World Cup

Which players and teams have disappointed our expert panel most this year? And what larger issues within the game ground their gears?

Transcript

00:00I think now you've brought in football governing bodies, this is probably a good time for me to

00:03have a little bit of a rant. I mean, normally as host I let our guests do the talking, but

00:07I'm going to get on my soapbox for once in my life, just as a bit of an end of year treat.

00:11There are a lot of unpleasant things to be said about FIFA and the way they handle the

00:15international game, but for me, the awarding of the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia is

00:20a huge disgrace and the biggest problem of the year and something that I think will hang over

00:24football's head for years to come. And it's not only the fact that it's happened that bothers me,

00:28but the opposition to it from member nations has been non-existent and that bothers me too.

00:33Only the Norwegian FA refused to nominate Saudi Arabia, despite the fact that a recent

00:37study was released suggesting that as many as 21,000 migrant workers have been killed

00:42in Saudi Arabia since 2016 working on their so-called Giga projects. Amnesty International

00:48has simply said that people will die as a result of this World Cup because they're going to be

00:52constructing all these huge shiny new stadiums, much like they did in Qatar, and they are almost

00:56certainly going to be exploiting and abusing migrant workers. Furthermore, it's yet another

01:01World Cup hosted in a country where LGBTQ plus life is criminalised and in which the host nation

01:06stands accused of imprisoning, torturing and even murdering political dissidents and journalists.

01:11So to me, it's simply a disgrace that the World Cup should not only be hosted there,

01:15but also be weighed through so readily by the FA and by 209 other member nations apart from Norway

01:21who didn't stand up and say anything. I don't want it to come across as if I disrespect the

01:25ordinary people of Saudi Arabia or the country's very rich historical footballing tradition.

01:30And in other circumstances, with different rulership, with different behaviour from them,

01:35and in a safer environment, both for construction workers and potentially for travelling LGBTQ plus

01:40fans, I'd be thrilled for the country to get this tournament. But as it is, I am just appalled and

01:44I'm appalled at the FA for supporting it, even if it was just politely applauding as instructed to

01:50do by Gianni Infantino the other day. I don't know, am I right to be so upset by this? I'm

01:56going to put this at you two and see your thoughts as well. So apologies for throwing quite a heavy

02:00subject at you. I mean, George, have you got any thoughts on the decision to host the World Cup in

02:05Saudi Arabia? Am I sort of too concerned? Is this a good thing for football that it's being brought

02:11to new horizons, like the Middle East would never have been considered as a venue for football

02:15tournaments before Infantino's reign, I suspect? Or am I right to be so bothered by it?