Hammad Albalawi, head of Saudi Arabia‘s 2034 World Cup bid unit, said his country welcomes all visitors, including LGBTQ+ people as the country bids to host the football tournament. There are currently no legal protections for LGBTQ+ rights in Saudi Arabia. Homosexuality and transgender status or ge
Hammad Albalawi, head of Saudi Arabia‘s 2034 World Cup bid unit, said his country welcomes all visitors, including LGBTQ+ people as the country bids to host the football tournament.
There are currently no legal protections for LGBTQ+ rights in Saudi Arabia. Homosexuality and transgender status or gender non-conformity are widely seen as immoral and indecent, and the law allows penalties for acts of homosexuality of capital punishment, prison sentences of indeterminate length(the maximum term is unknown, fines, flogging, and deportation for foreigners.. According to the Human Dignity Trust, there is evidence of the law being enforced in recent years, and LGBTQ+ people are regularly subjected to discrimination and violence.
The hosts of the 2034 World Cup are set to be officially appointed at the Fifa Congress on December 11 and Saudi Arabia’s bid is almost certain to succeed due to the absence of any other expressions of interest in the region before Fifa’s deadline late last year.
“You will be respected,” Albalawi said when asked about LGBTQ fans visiting his country. “You will be welcome in Saudi Arabia as that respect and welcome is to everyone from all around the world.
“We respect the privacy of all of our guests. We have seen millions of guests come to Saudi Arabia in the last few years. We’ve hosted over a hundred sporting events attended by more than three million fans who have enjoyed their experience.
“People need to educate themselves about the Kingdom and the best way to do that is to come and visit. They will find hospitable Saudis. We would love to receive all of our guests.”
In May 2023, Saudi’s government-run tourism website said in a statement under general information for LGBTQ+ visitors, “We ask that visitors respect our culture and traditions and follow our laws as they would when visiting any other country in the world.”
“Like other governments around the world, visitors are not required to disclose their personal information and we will respect visitors’ right to privacy.”
The Saudis have invested heavily in high-profile sports such as football, Formula One, boxing and golf over the last few years, leading critics, including Amnesty International, to accuse the kingdom of “sportswashing” its record.
Albalawi has denied accusations of sportswashing and reaffirmed the Kingdom’s commitment to Vision 2030, which aims is to diversify the country’s oil-reliant economy by boosting tourism and enhancing urban life through cultural and heritage events and sports.
“We’re not doing this to make a headline, we’re doing this for our people,” Albalawi said. “We are investing to make sure that Saudis live longer and happier lives and that’s something that we’re very proud of.”
