It’s 10 years away and hopefully the Houthi conflict in the Red Sea far behind them: Saudi Arabia has already revealed plans for 15 of its 2034 World Cup stadiums. This will be the second FIFA World Cup to be help in the Middle East after Qatar hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The stadiums will host the World Cup and includes a venue built at the 15-minute city, The Line. Another is based on the surface of the bark of a tree.

Revealed as part of its official bid submission to FIFA, the 15 stadiums will be based in the cities of Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Khobar and Abha, as well as part of The Line, the controversial city which has seen Bedouins murdered and sent to jail.

A total of 11 new stadiums will need to be built, with 3 under construction. Two of Saudi Arabia’s largest stadiums will be renovated for the event and 2 others expanded. How can we ensure that worker’s rights in Saudi Arabia are upheld?

A Guardian report issued in February 2021 found that more than 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had died in Qatar since the award of the tournament. The death records were not categorised by occupation or place of work but it is assumed they were accidents that took place during construction of the stadium, pointing to modern-day slavery conditions in Qatar that still has not seen much media attention.

We wrote about this in 2012, but Qatar nor the international FIFA body paid no heed.

“Trade unionists have used the COP18 discussions in Qatar to bring the silent but disturbing plight of migrant workers to light. While the emirate boasts about its plans to build a bevy of solar-powered stadiums in advance of the 2022 World Cup in addition to a host of other eco-boosting projects, very little has been said about who is going to do the work. Like Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Saudi Arabia, Qatar relies very heavily on migrant workers, who do all the dirty work but receive few of the benefits of their hard, miserable labor.”

FIFA is set to confirm Saudi Arabia as the host for the 2034 event in December, with the country the only bidder for the event. Who is going to hold FIFA and Saudi Arabia accountable for worker’s rights when basic media is not allowed to report from Saudi Arabia?

Read on for details of the 15 stadiums set to host games at the 2034 World Cup:

New Murabba Stadium, Riyadh, unknown architect

The New Murabba Stadium will be surrounded by rock-like forms divided by canyons: “Its design replicates the layered overlapping planes and peeling planar texture of the bark of the native acacia tree,” according to the bid placed.

The 45,000-seat stadium will form part of the Murabba downtown development, and will include the square skyscraper called Mukaab featured here. No elements of sustainability in materials or LEED certification supplied.

King Salman International Stadium, Riyadh, by Populous

This venue will host the World Cup 2034 final and will be the country’s largest stadium when complete. It is designed by the architecture studio Populous, and will have a capacity of 92,000.

“The stadium will blend into its surrounding topography, with terrain and natural habitat forming part of the stadium’s roof,” said the official submission.

“Aside from its aesthetic appeal, this design will provide effective shading and ventilation tailored to the desert climate.”

Roshn Stadium, Riyadh, ROSHYN Gruop

“The stadium is designed as a dynamic part of the urban fabric, encouraging the community to walk around and through the facility,” announced the bid.

King Fahd Sports City Stadium, Riyadh, by Ian Fraser, John Roberts, Michael KC Cheah

First opened in 1987, the King Fahd Sports City Stadium is covered with a distinctive fabric roof supported on a series of masts. Set in east of Riyadh, it is being refurbished by Populous to increase seating from 58,000 to 70,000.

Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium, Riyadh, by Populous

Named after Mohammed bin Salman, the stadium is planned about 20 miles from Riyadh and the cliffside stadium will include attendee stands on three sides with a large, retractable LED wall occupying the other side. There are no sustainability elements supplied.

“The bowl has been designed to optimise the spectator experience, featuring a unique three-sided arrangement to allow for spectacular views out towards the Tuwaiq cliffs,” wrote the official bidders.

Prince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City Stadium, Riyadh, Populous 

“The stadium design draws inspiration from the ‘culturally contextualized modernism’ principles of Salmani architecture,” said the bid.

The stadium will include solar panels and locally sourced materials.

South Riyadh Stadium, Riyadh, Populous

Influenced by “Salmani architecture”, the South Riyadh Stadium will be located in the south Riyadh. “The facade blends modernity with the rich architectural language and material palette of the area,” according to the bid.

King Saud University Stadium, Riyadh, by Michael KC Cheah, renovation by Populous

This is one of the two existing stadiums that will be expanded for the World Cup so it can seat 46,000 during the tournament instead of 33,000 currently.

Neom Stadium, Neom, unknown architect

The aim here is to be the most unique stadium in the world the Neom stadium will be part of The Line, a 15-minute linear city being built on the coast of the Red Sea. “With a pitch situated more than 350 meters above ground, stunning vistas, and a roof created from the city itself, the stadium will be an experience like no other.”

King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah, by Arup

This venue was opened in 2014 by Arup and can hold 62,000 people. It will be refurbished for the World Cup: “Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Sports City Stadium is an elegant, respectful and versatile complex that combines traditional Islamic architecture with innovative design to form a highly functional, sustainable and flexible building,” said Arup.

Qiddiya Coast Stadium, Jeddah, Populous

This colorful stadium will be built aboutu 30 miles outside Jeddah.

“It is designed as a physical representation of the vibrant relationship between people and water, energy and matter, with its design also evoking the ripple effect of a Mexican wave,” said the bidder.

“Its form undulates; its vibrant color palette is rich and joyful.”

Jeddah Central Development Stadium, Jeddah, by GMP Architecten

This is being built as one of the anchor buildings of the Jeddah Central giga project and will include a 45,000 seat stadium designed by German studio GMP Architecten. The idea is to look like historic structures, though Saudi Arabian historic buildings were essentially palaces and buildings made from mud. See the House of Saud.

“It echoes the traditional architecture of Jeddah’s historic Al Balad district, while embracing technological advancements and innovative building design,” said the bidder.

“It features three tiers, with an outer concourse connected to four surrounding ‘villages’. The stadium bowl is fully covered by a semi-translucent roof, with a retractable inner roof and a 360-degree LED screen.”

King Abdullah Economic City Stadium, Jeddah, unknown architect

Located 60 miles from Jeddah, the King Abdullah Economic City Stadium will form part of a planned new city on the Red Sea Coast. The drum-shaped stadium will have a capacity of 45,000.

Aramco Stadium, Al Khobar, by Foster + Partners and Populous

With a concept by UK studio Foster + Partners and now being designed by Populous, the Aramco Stadium is under construction in Al Khobar.

“The stadium’s architecture celebrates the sea’s dynamic nature and its profound influence on the local community,” said the bid: “Its whirlpool-shaped design mimics overlapping sails and draws on graceful, natural wave motifs, to blend seamlessly with the coastal landscape.”

King Khalid University Stadium, Abha, a renovation by Populous

Located in Abha, the King Khalid University Stadium is stadium number 2 that will be expanded and retrofitted to accommodate a larger crowd.

The stadium can hold 12,000 and it will be increased to 45,000 during the World Cup.

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In its original FIFA bid, Qatar pledged to build nine new stadiums and refurbish an additional three to ensure adequate space for one of the world’s most popular sporting events.

The stadiums, it was said, would be constructed with state-of-the art technology that would incorporate solar power to cool interiors since temperatures are particularly high in the summer.

This has been the cause of ongoing controversy; earlier this year, FIFA’s Secretary General Jerome Valcke said it would be impossible to have a summer World Cup. But he spoke out of turn, and FIFA has left the issue open-ended for now.

And Qatar’s shady human rights record first unveiled by The Guardian brought even more scrutiny. Nepalese workers reported dismal working conditions and poorly ventilated, cramped living quarters and insufficient food and drink.

Last summer, according to The Guardian, roughly one person died every day from heart attacks brought on by extreme heat and exhaustion.

Related: “Comparing Qatar stadium to a vagina is ridiculous,” says Zaha Hadid

What, if anything, either of these two issues has to do with the decision to cut the number of planned stadiums by one third is not exactly clear.

Ghanim Al Kuwari, the organizing committee’s senior manager for projects, announced the plans at a conference in Doha yesterday, according to Bloomberg News, but failed to give a reason for the decision.

But John Sfakianakis, chief investment strategist at MASIC, a Riyadh investment company, told the paper that their decision was motivated by costs.

“It does always make good sense to do necessary cost-cutting and reviews of capex for such huge projects that are front-loaded.”

As it stands, Qatar will spend at least $34 billion on rail and metro facilities, $7 billion on port development, $12 billion on an airport that is behind schedule already, and $4 billion on the stadiums that will most likely fall into disuse once the World Cup is over, though it is very likely the end costs will far exceed early estimates.

Construction of Zaha Hadid’s Al Wakrah stadium, which many claim looks like a vagina, is underway and the Al Rayyan Stadium should be next. Construction on it should start by the end of 2014 or early 2015.

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To address health concerns raised before host nation selection, air-conditioned stadiums loomed large in Qatar’s bid, but that only addressed the interior heat problem.  A proposed solar-powered stadium does nothing to offset the energy-guzzling, mechanically cooled venues growing up to support the visiting hordes of players, fans, media, corporate sponsors and the workforce imported to cater to their needs.

“You can cool down the stadiums but you can’t cool down the whole country,” said FIFA President Sepp Blatter, although there was talk of blanketing the Doha skies with artificial clouds to shade the city.

Speaking at a two-day conference on sports, media and economy in Austria, Blatter said, “If this World Cup is to become a party for the people, you can’t play football in the summer.” (Blatter refuses to say if he backed Qatar’s original bid.)

A more realistic solution to overcome the oppressive heat is to switch the 2022 World Cup to a winter event, and, according to the BBC, Blatter has stated his intention to make that happen. The move would likely anger fans, overhauling tradition and disrupting playing schedules for domestic leagues across Europe.

Hassan Al-Thawadi, head of the Qatar organizing committee, said that although Qatar bid for a summer tournament, he would consider a change to another season. “If there is a wish from the football community to move the World Cup to the winter, we are open for it,” said Al-Thawadi, according to the New York Times.

“There is still enough time,” Blatter said. “I will bring this up to the executive committee.”  Stay tuned as this ball goes in and out of play.

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And Tangram is leading the way with a design that incorporates ancient Islamic climate controls and biomimicry to keep 80,000 people cool during what will be the Middle East’s first World Cup event.

“We are in a pivotal time now in Qatar as we have nine years left to deliver our construction plans,” Eckersall said at the recent event.

“We must be clever and intelligent to provide sustainable buildings for the next generation and think about the legacy we are going to leave for 2022 and beyond.”

Wrapped in a punctured skin that permits constant air flow, Tangram’s stadium relies on several passive cooling mechanisms that don’t require a watt of conventional energy.

Traditional baghdeer openings combined with Fibonacci logarithms and a cooling technique modeled after desert lizards (which fan themselves using their scales) pushes hot air out of the stadium while keeping cool air inside.

Additionally, using the Venturi effect, the designers propose to hasten air pressure across the colonnades to further promote cooling. These also provide thermal massing.

Lastly, a system of qanats, such as those used by the ancient Persians to transport water from the mountains to dry valleys below, are used to create a shallow pool of water below the stadium in order to provide evaporative cooling.

In this way, Tangram believes they will be able to keep interior temperatures below the so-called Wet Bulb Temperature (WBT) of 26-29C mandated by FIFA.

However, it remains to be seen whether the event will be staged during summer as critics warn that the high heat and humidity could imperil the health of both athletes and spectators.

Michel D’Hooghe, FIFA’s medical chief, has publicly announced his preference for a safer winter World Cup that year.

Meanwhile, with construction and talks about unfair labor laws well underway, Qatar is on track to spend approximately $115 billion to prepare for the event.

:: Inhabitat

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’Personally, I think it would be a good thing if we could play this World Cup in better temperatures than in full summer in Qatar,” D’Hooghe said.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter called the dilemma “a problem without a solution” after the medical team met recently in Belgium to determine whether holding the tournament in June would pose a health threat to athletes and fans, according to AP.

Jerome Valcke, the Secretary General of FIFA. said prior to the meeting that the tournament may have to be rescheduled during cooler months if the medical committee deems it necessary.

The athletes will probably be fine, but the spectators will have to travel between cities in temperatures that even locals are unable to withstand. Ask anybody who has been to the Gulf countries in the dead of summer and almost all of them are bound to complaint hat the heat is usually so oppressive it is difficult to even walk a block to fetch groceries.

On the surface it doesn’t seem like such a big deal. Just rearrange the schedule, right? Unfortunately the situation is more complicated than that.

Football clubs around the globe have set schedules that have existed for as long as the sport – more or less – so moving the event to winter would entail an enormous reshuffle.

That being said, FIFA has another nine years to figure it out.

Meanwhile, although the debate will continue and most believe that Qatar should make the decision, FIFA is in no hurry to make any firm commitments either way.

Which is probably a good thing, because who knows what impact climate change will have on the event as it draws near.

:: NY Daily News

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The glowing orb’s design takes inspiration from Qatar’s pearl-fishing roots, according to Erick Velasco Farerra, and will incorporate cutting-edge technology to achieve zero-carbon emissions.

A museum and shopping center that gently revolves around a central vertical axis during the day, this reflective crystal ball is designed to become a landmark destination that will peer over Oasis City – a partially-buried new urban development that will boast narrow roads and green city squares reminiscent of past Arabic cities.

So far, the Crystal Ball – Light of the Future sounds impressive, but like fairytale crystal balls, the glittering structure has predictive powers that unveil the spirit of Qatar’s world cup ambitions.

On the world stage for the first time, the small gulf nation is desperate to show off its technological prowess, which they will buy with fossil-fuel profits. But true sustainability can’t be bought.

Even if the orb is able to self-power its daily revolutions, it remains to be seen whether Qatar will use locally-sourced and manufactured materials or treat their laborers fairly – all of which are essential to genuinely sustainable development.

Football fans and design enthusiasts would be remiss to ignore the fate of foreign workers, as reports are already streaming in of human rights abuses inflicted upon those who toil under the hot sun to transform fancy concepts like these into working buildings.

To get a better sense of what foreign workers face in the Gulf, read our report about thousands of laborers who live in the shadows of Dubai’s shining skyline.

:: Inhabitat

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Prince Ali of Jordan believes that Muslim women shouldn’t be disqualified from world-class sports because they wear the hijab, the traditional Islamic head covering. This youngest vice-president of the world football’s governing body Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is a vocal supporter in the campaign against the hijab ban. In 2007, FIFA, banned players from wearing hijab, citing safety concerns.

“This is not an issue of religious symbolism. It’s simply a case of cultural modesty. And I’m tackling this because it is a big issue for many, many women all across the world. It’s not an issue which will go away,” said the prince in a statement to Yahoo Sports recently. The Prince’s pitch to grant everyone equal rights to play soccer has United Nations backing. Sports are good for heart health and we’d be thrilled to see more religious Muslim keeping fit through Sport. The ban is an obstacle to Muslim women athletes. 

Last year, Iran’s national women’s team withdrew from the West Asia Olympic qualifiers because of the uniform restriction. Three Jordanian players were also forced to drop out. The Jordanian’s disqualification incited Rahaf Owais, a Jordanian Football Association employee, to start a petition on Change.org: over 15,000 people signed it.  Owais’s campaign grabbed international attention: the story was picked up on CNN and carried in leading US newspapers. Her cause attracted Prince Ali’s support, and was a pivotal contributor to FIFA’s decision.

Last March, in a separate action, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) defied FIFA’s ruling: permitting players to wear their headscarves. IFAB is comprised of a single representative from each of the English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish football associations, plus four reps from FIFA. IFAB actions must be approved by 75% of the vote and FIFA approval is necessary for every decision.

IFAB meets to ratify its decision to lift the ban in July.

“We held a meeting in FIFA with designers of a safe headscarf as well as independent technical testing institutes in order to discuss the new designs,” said Ali.  A sports hijab, equipped with Velcro fasteners, has been designed for competitive use.

“Safety is important, but to date, there have been no reported injuries due the headscarf on the pitch,” said the prince. “We have a responsibility to ensure that all women who wear a headscarf are able to participate in the game they love. Football is a sport for all.”

Prince Ali, who is half-brother of King Abdullah II, was recently recognized for his contribution to Muslim women’s sport at the inaugural Muslim Women’s Sport Foundation Ambassador Awards. The event celebrated female role models in the Muslim community as well as non-Islamic figures who have worked to increase access to sport for Muslims worldwide.

Football Association chairman, David Bernstein, chaired the event; he told insideworldfootball that he was keen to engage with Muslim communities and wanted to see more Muslim Premier League stars as role models.

“When you play football there is something you have in common and it can cross boundaries. I think sport is a wonderful way, football in particular, to bring communities together.”

Image of a pretty muslim woman athlete by Shutterstock

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Despite our huffing and puffing to blow out its scorching world cup bid, Qatar has won the bid to host the 2022 finals. FIFA announced this afternoon in Zurich that the small Middle Eastern country – the first to hold a world cup final – won despite proposals from the United States, Australia, Japan, and South Korea.

Critics are concerned that unlike Russia, which won the 2018 bid, Qatar’s high summertime temperatures and humidity will be an important impediment. But the country has plans to build several sophisticated, solar-powered and carbon neutral stadiums that will maintain a comfortable environment for both players and spectators.

The win is a major boon for Qatar, which has taken huge strides to improve the quality of life for its citizens as part of its Vision 2030 plan. However, plagued by desertification and deeply reliant on desalination for its water, (which is energy intensive and destructive to the Persian Gulf’s marine environment), such an enormous construction project could exact a serious environmental price.

Others note that with its own soccer team ranked at only 95 and a population of  less than two million, a dozen new stadiums will go to waste or create an expensive and unnecessary maintenance nightmare such as occurred in South Africa.

Even so, as Qatar will be the first Middle Eastern country to host a world cup finals, we have to admit, it’s kind of exciting.

:: Telegraph

Please visit these sites for more information about Qatar’s 2022 bid:

Qatar Seeks to Solar Power the 2022 World Cup

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