Hammad Albalawi, head of Saudi Arabia's 2034 World Cup bid unit, said his country welcomes all visitors, including LGBTQ people, and that their bid to host the 48-team showpiece event has nothing to do with "sportswashing" their human rights record.
Global governing body FIFA limited the 2034 contest to bidders from the Asian and Oceania confederations as Morocco, Portugal and Spain will share the hosting of the 2030 tournament.
The hosts are set to be officially appointed at the FIFA Congress on Dec. 11 and Saudi Arabia's bid is almost certain to succeed due to the absence of any other expressions of interest before FIFA's deadline late last year.
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