Saudi Arabia winning the bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup has caused more than a flutter in football circles. This is the third time the football World Cup is being staged in Asia — the first time being in 2002 by Japan and South Korea and the second time in Qatar in 2022. As in Qatar, the World Cup will be held in winter as the weather will be more conducive. This, of course, will lead to disruption in all the football leagues in Europe.

There are a few surprising things about the Saudi bid. One, it was the only bidder with no other competitor, which casts some doubt over FIFA’s “democratic process”. Two, out of the 14 stadiums required to host the event, 11 are yet to be built in Saudi Arabia.

Of course these stadiums will be built by immigrant labour and, as in the case with Qatar, there will be intense scrutiny by the West on labour standards, wages and working conditions.

The Western press predictably has frowned at choice of Saudi Arabia. There has been the predictable talk of “sportswashing”, human rights record, lack of “democracy”, which FIFA has predictably chosen to ignore.

In the last few years, the nations from West Asia have been getting active in the world of sport. The Gulf monarchies have bought football clubs across Europe — Manchester City, Newcastle United, both in the English Premier League, and France’s Paris St Germain being the prominent ones.

The Gulf and West Asian states have in recent times used their “soft power” to get active in the world of sports and host various events.

The Saudi football league has attracted some big names — Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez from Europe — leading to a lot of hand-wringing in the West. But if you don’t have a problem buying their oil and selling weapons to them, you should learn to live with their “sportswashing”.