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Saudi World Cup: A dark day for football

The Saudi regime cannot be allowed to sportswash its awful human rights record.

The decision to award the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia is a dark day for football, says Scottish Green MSP Gillian Mackay.

Citing the regime’s appalling human rights record, Ms Mackay warned that the decision would further undermine FIFA’s awful reputation.

Ms Mackay said:

"This is a shameful decision and a dark day for football.

"The World Cup is supposed to be for everyone, but the Saudi regime is a dictatorship with one of the worst human rights records in the world.

"Over recent years it has tried to use high profile sports events to boost its reputation, while doing nothing to improve its terrible treatment of women and minority groups.

"We cannot allow football's biggest tournament to be used as a propaganda vehicle to sportswash the abuses that have been inflicted on generations of Saudi people.

"With widespread corruption allegations and the scandals surrounding recent tournaments in Russia and Qatar, FIFA has already done more than enough to destroy its reputation. This will only undermine it further."