European football to rebel over winter World Cup in Saudi Arabia

European football leagues are set to rebel against plans to host the 2034 Fifa World Cup in Saudi Arabia in the winter.

The Middle Eastern kingdom is set to be officially confirmed as hosts for the 2034 edition of the World Cup on Wednesday at a Fifa congress meeting.

The move could see Saudi Arabia follow in the footsteps of Qatar in staging a winter World Cup.

But European leagues are against plans that would see their domestic leagues – including England’s Premier League – pausing their competitions for the quadrennial event.

It comes as Norway’s football federation (the NFF) called out Fifa’s plans to hand Saudi Arabia the 2034 competition as “flawed”.

“[Wednesday’s] vote is not about who gets the 2030 and 2034 World Cups – that has already been decided,” NFF president Lise Klaveness said.

“The Congress is primarily about providing feedback on Fifa’s allocation process. The board’s assessment is that the process does not align with the principles of a sound and predictable governance system. By abstaining from acclamation, we are sending a deliberate signal that we cannot support FIFA’s approach.”

The federation added that it “cannot endorse a process it considers flawed and inconsistent with the principles of Fifa’s own reforms”.

The 2030 World Cup is set to be handed – without a vote – to Spain, Portugal and Morocco with a South American contingent hosting the opening matches to celebrate 100 years of the Fifa World Cup.

“The lack of predictability and open processes challenges trust in Fifa as the global custodian of football,” Klaveness added.

“Fifa’s own guidelines for human rights and due diligence have also not been adequately integrated into the process, increasing the risk of human rights violations.

“Based on the mandate from our General Assembly in 2021, we have consistently advocated for Fifa to strengthen itself as a rules-based and predictable steward of international football. We must remain consistent in this matter as well.”