Saudi rights activist says 2034 World Cup visitors will live in 'a bubble' and not see real life

LONDON (AP) — Soccer fans visiting Saudi Arabia for the 2034 World Cup will live in a “bubble” during the tournament that does not reflect real life there, a Saudi rights activist warned on Thursday.

After FIFA confirmed the kingdom as the 2034 tournament host on Wednesday, the soccer body president Gianni Infantino acknowledged “the world will be watching” to see positive social change.

Human rights groups believe migrant workers’ lives will be at risk building stadiums and other projects for the World Cup, and Saudi Arabia’s laws limiting freedoms for women and LGBTQ+ people have been criticized at the United Nations Human Rights council.

“Western people will be very safe. They will see a bubble of what Saudi Arabia is,” Lina al-Hathloul, a Saudi activist with the London-based rights group ALQST, said.

Her sister, Loujain al-Hathloul, was jailed for three years after campaigning to end the Saudi ban on women driving that was lifted in 2018, and lives there under a travel ban.

Saudi Arabia is today “a pure police state,” Lina al-Hathloul claimed, under the rule of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose close working ties to Infantino were key to getting the World Cup without a rival bid.

The crown prince “has really managed to create this bubble where people only see entertainment and they don’t see the reality on the ground,” al-Hathloul said. “No one will see tortures in prisons and no one will see executions. You also have the jails full of people just for tweets.”

Saudi officials stressed during a 15-month bid campaign, made mostly opaque by FIFA, that the kingdom is modernizing fast and hosting soccer’s biggest event will drive more change.

“We’re very proud of the society that we are today,” Hammad Albalawi, from the 2034 World Cup bid team, said on Wednesday in Riyadh, stating the kingdom’s goals are “to make the citizens global citizens and to welcome guests from all around the world.”

Only Norway of FIFA’s 211 member federations opposed how the 2034 decision was made by acclaim on Wednesday. Two years ago, on the eve of the World Cup in Qatar, Infantino accused Europeans of hypocrisy giving moral lessons to other regions and cultures.

On Wednesday, the English Football Association said it got promises from Saudi officials before giving support.

“They assured us that they are fully committed to providing a safe and welcome environment for all fans,” the English FA said in a statement, “including LGBTQ+ fans.”

Two days before the vote, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Prince Mohammed in Riyadh and said Saudi Arabia was a key partner in his “number one mission” of economic growth.

Starmer, who is an Arsenal fan, said he hoped to watch a game with the crown prince on a future visit to London.

“You have some changes,” Al-Hathloul said, noting more freedoms for Saudi women to choose what to wear, “but they’re not institutional, they’re not fundamental, and they’re not for everyone.”

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

FILE - Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, left, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, stand for the anthem prior to opening soccer match of the 2018 World Cup between Russia and Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, Russia, on June 14, 2018. (Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - People gather at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium prior to the Soccer Club World Cup match between Al-Ittihad and Auckland City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

FILE - Saudi Arabia's Salem Al-Dawsari celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the World Cup Group C soccer match between Argentina and Saudi Arabia at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan, File)

A map at the Saudi Arabia World Cup bid exhibition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday Dec. 11, 2024, showing the proposed host cities and venues for the 2034 World Cup. (AP Photo/Baraa Anwer)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud at the Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024 during his three day visit of United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Cyprus.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool)

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank has cut rates by a quarter percentage point amid signs of weakening growth and concern about the impact of political chaos in France and the possibility of new U.S. import tariffs.

The bank’s rate-setting committee made the decision Thursday at its skyscraper headquarters in Frankfurt to lower the benchmark from 3.25% to 3%.

Lower rates should support growth amid signs that the post-pandemic recovery is slowing in the 20 countries that use the euro currency and concerns that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump might impose new tariffs, or import taxes, on goods imported to the US after he is inaugurated Jan. 20. That sends a cold chill through the business world in Europe, where exports are an outsized contributor to growth and employment.

Yet there are internal risks as well.

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier resigned Dec. 5 after losing a vote of confidence, leaving the France without a functioning government and no clear majority in parliament able or willing to tackle the country’s excessive budget deficit. Elections cannot be held before June. While the end of the Barnier government hasn't triggered a financial crisis, it adds uncertainty about how long it will take for France to right its finances.

A half-point cut “would be a security move to preempt any potential risks for the eurozone economy coming from the next U.S. administration’s potential economic policy choices and political woes in France and Germany,” said Carsten Brzeski, chief eurozone economist at ING bank.

Opting for a quarter-point move “would rather follow the cautious meeting-by-meeting approach” that the bank has pursued since it started cutting rates in June, Brzeski said. One argument for a smaller rate cut might be a reluctance by the ECB to risk the perception that it is getting involved in French national politics: “This is speculation the ECB would clearly rather avoid,” Brzeski said.

Germany's governing coalition broke up in November, and a new national election is expected Feb. 23. Weeks of coalition negotiations are expected to follow before a new government is in place. That leaves the two biggest eurozone economies politically adrift for months.

All that has dinged the confidence that businesses need to borrow, invest, expand production and take risks. The survey index of purchasing managers compiled by S&P Global came in at 48.3 in November, with levels below 50 suggesting the economy is slowing. The Sentix survey of investor confidence fell in its first update after the U.S. election, by 4.6 points to minus 17.5.

Inflation has fallen steeply to 2.3% from its peak of 10.6% in late 2022, shifting attention from reigning in consumer price increases to worries about ongoing weak growth. The eurozone is expected to grow 0.8% this year and 1.3.% next year, according to forecasts from the European Union's executive commission.

Higher ECB rates helped squelch Europe’s outbreak of inflation in the wake of the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Higher central bank benchmarks influence borrowing costs throughout the economy, making it more expensive to borrow and spend, and thus taking pressure off prices.

Yet that also presents a danger in that those same high rates could stall the EU's goal of more vigorous economic growth.

A drumbeat of announcements regarding job cuts in coming years at major firms in Germany has not improved the mood. They include auto technology and parts firm Bosch, which plans to drop 5,500 jobs, 3,800 of them in Germany; auto supplier ZF Friedrichshafen, which plans to drop 14,000-15,000 jobs; and Ford Motor Co., which is to drop 4,000 jobs in Europe, 2,900 in Germany, and steelmaker ThyssenKrupp with 11,000 planned cuts. Volkswagen plans to shut as many as three German plants, according to its employee representatives who are negotiating with the company in an effort to block the closings.

The ECB determines interest rate policy for the 20 of 27 EU member countries that have joined the euro currency.

FILE - The European Central Bank, right, stands amid buildings in the banking district of Frankfurt, Germany, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)