Exclusive: Philipp Lahm criticizes the awarding of the World Cup to Saudi Arabia

For Philipp Lahm it is clear that “major events should take place in democratic countries”. The former FC Bayern professional is accordingly critical of the awarding of the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia, as he explains in an exclusive Blickpunkt Sport interview. A positive example for him is the 2024 home European Championship, where Lahm acted as tournament director. This “brought people together”.

Lahm: Democratic decisions are not possible in Saudi Arabia

In contrast to Qatar, Saudi Arabia is a football-loving country, says the 41-year-old. “Saudi Arabia is the country with the highest population density in their region with 36 million inhabitants. They are interested in football, even locally.” But the political system bothers Lahm: “In club sports, we are used to decisions being made democratically and that is not the case in Saudi Arabia,” the former national team captain makes clear.

FIFA’s award process also bothers him. “You couldn’t vote for the 2030 World Cup and the 2034 World Cup, but you had to say yes to both or no to both.” At the same time, the world association awarded the 2030 tournament to Spain, Portugal and Morocco as well as Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. It was clear to him that “something wasn’t right with the award.” The DFB also voted for the award.

In order to prevent FIFA from going it alone in the future, Europe must “stick together,” says Lahm. “We are big nations. It’s nice that these tournaments like the Olympics are also taking place in Europe. And of course they also go to other continents. Everyone has the right to be a host location,” said the 2014 world champion.

“You have to look at what conditions and what the political situation is like there. That’s extremely important.” Philipp Lahm

Lahm about the home European Championship: “We were great hosts again”

As tournament director at the 2024 European Championships, Lahm recently organized a major event himself and draws a satisfied conclusion in the Blickpunkt Sport interview. “Overall, we wanted to organize a tournament that fits the times to bring people together again and I think we succeeded very, very well.” The former captain of the national team fondly remembers the celebrating Dutch and Scots. “I think we were great hosts again,” says Lahm happily, adding: “The cohesion was noticeable again, not only in Germany, but also across Europe.”

The Olympic Games in Paris also contributed to this for Lahm. “You felt that especially this summer, with the two big tournaments, the European Championships, but then also the Olympics.” With the last major football events awarded to Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022), Europe “suffered a bit,” says Lahm. “That’s why, I think, it was so important that this took place in Europe this summer, in democratic countries, and we saw what football and sport can do.”