By GRAHAM DUNBAR
PARIS (AP) — On the sidelines of the Paris Olympics, FIFA has been doing business with its future hosts of the men’s World Cup including Saudi Arabia.
FIFA said on Monday it received in Paris the formal bid books from leaders of the seven member federations which are the exclusive bidders for the World Cups of 2030 and 2034.
The 2030 World Cup is being co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco plus three South American neighbors — Argentina, Paraguay and inaugural 1930 host Uruguay — who will each stage one of the tournament’s 104 games.
Saudi Arabia is the only candidate for the 2034 World Cup, which was fast-tracked by FIFA last year.
The two bids are set to be confirmed at a Dec. 11 online meeting of FIFA’s 211 member federations.
First, the proposed World Cup project plans must be detailed in hundreds of pages which FIFA aims to publish later this week. They must include plans for stadiums, hotels, training fields, transport and national security.
“FIFA will thoroughly assess the bid books and publish its evaluation report” due in the last quarter of the year, the world soccer body said in a statement.
World Cup bidders also must now submit to an assessment of their human rights obligations to host the tournament. FIFA was invited in May to work with independent experts to assess the candidates.
FIFA’s human rights policy was introduced eight years ago after it awarded the 2018 and 2022 editions to Russia and Qatar, respectively, and was first applied for the 2026 tournament candidates.
The United States, Canada and Mexico will co-host the 2026 World Cup, the first with 48 teams instead of 32. They beat rival bidder Morocco in a 134-65 vote decided in 2018 in Moscow.
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