The last time I came to Homs, I crossed the border from Lebanon on the back of a motorbike.

I recall ducking beneath somebody’s washing hanging on a line and crisscrossing through a minefield, the driver shouting: “Don’t worry, Habibi, I do it all the time!”

This time, I drove past the burnt-out hulks of Syrian tanks and grad missile launchers through a once-feared, but now destroyed and abandoned, checkpoint – and into a free city.

On a roundabout, where a huge statue of Bashar al Assad used to dominate the city centre, men, women and children were singing, laughing and taking selfies.

The statue, like the regime, has been toppled.

During my last trip to Homs, I couldn’t even approach the city centre because it was controlled by the regime.

I was confined to a district known as Baba Amr, the home of the Homs uprising against Assad that started in 2011 and which became the scene of unbridled slaughter in 2012.

And now, coming back has been one of the single most moving experiences of my life.

The regime was powerful in Homs because it destroyed the opposition. Some of the most appalling attacks on civilians happened here.

Barely a building in Baba Amr was left undamaged in a campaign of blanket bombing and targeted attacks by the Syrian Army in 2012. It’s not been rebuilt but people are returning now, living amid the rubble.

The fall of Assad is being greeted here as the start of a new life.

“We feel we’ve been born again,” Maher Hassan, a resident of Baba Amr, told me.

“I went to the square, and it felt like I was seeing it for the first time, I used to pass it all the time, but there was a celebration and when I looked over, I felt like I had never seen it before.”

People are now on the streets, free of the fear of being arrested, imprisoned and murdered. That was an everyday threat, and these scenes of ordinary life just didn’t exist in Baba Amr since 2011 – until now.

At every corner, I was stopped and surrounded by people telling us of family members either murdered by the regime or still missing.

As I was interviewing two women, who were describing the arrest and gruesome murders of so many of their male relatives, a man suddenly emerged from the crowd and began to hug them. The women started to wail.

Ahmad Hasan Nheimy was a protester at the start of the uprising in 2011, who was jailed, and then fled the country after release. He has finally been able to return home for the first time in nearly 14 years.

“I still can’t believe it, I can’t believe, I’m saying hello to everyone still, I’ve seen my mother for the first time in 14 years, my house is destroyed,” he said through tears.

“They used to arrest and report protesters, there were spies within, and I got a notice that my name was on a list, and my name was distributed to soldiers at checkpoints, so I couldn’t cross checkpoints anymore.”

I asked him if he thought he would ever be able to come back.

“It crossed my mind that I would never come home, because whenever we crossed the borders, we thought we would be slaughtered or put in prison, and in prison we would be tortured,” he replied.

In those early days of the uprising, the “media centre” – the top three floors of a house in Baba Amr – was the very heart of what the activists who manned it believed was to be a revolution.

We were welcomed there and the movement – all young men and women – looked after us. They linked us up with the swelling protest marches that took to the streets every night.

The Free Syrian Army was still in its infancy, and there were very few of them, with hardly any weapons. But they gave the protesters as much protection as they could.

One of those was Abu Firas, who was just 22 at the time. He had deserted the Syrian Army to join the FSA.

I met Abu Firas and, though we are both older, the memories from that time were vivid.

He wanted to show me around the streets where we took refuge and buildings where they had tried to hold off Assad’s forces.

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We ended up outside the “media centre”. In early 2012, the building and streets around it were targeted by the regime and its rockets.

During one attack, The Sunday Times foreign correspondent Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed. With Colvin was photographer Paul Conroy, who spoke to Sky’s Yalda Hakim on Wednesday night.

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What I learnt was that Abu Firas was one of those who had tried to save Marie and Remi. He also helped their colleagues who had been badly injured in the direct, targeted attack on the “media centre”.

“They were heroes to us, we will never forget them,” Abu Firas told me. “They told the world what was happening, they are famous here, they will forever be part of our revolution.”

Countless civilians and activists have died in Baba Amr and across Syria and these journalists would never have wanted to be at the centre of any story.

But here, in Baba Amr, their reporting was the link to the outside world and their courage is part of folklore.

There were times I thought I would never see normal life in Homs, or even visit it again, but so many things have changed.

Syria is free now from Assad’s long reign of terror.

The future is far from clear of course, but the present feels very special in Baba Amr.

Saudi Arabia has been confirmed as the host nation for the 2034 football World Cup.

Also confirmed were the hosts for the 2030 World Cup, which was awarded to six countries and will take place across three continents to celebrate 100 years of the tournament.

Saudi Arabia was the sole bidder for the 2034 competition. Its host status was confirmed on Wednesday after an online meeting of the 211 members of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA).

The members confirmed the unchallenged bids by acclamation – simply clapping during the virtual meeting led by FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

As well as the World Cup, Saudi Arabia is hosting football’s 2027 Asian Cup, the 2029 Asian Winter Games and the 2034 Asian Games. It also has long-term ambitions to host more major events, including the Women’s World Cup, according to Sky Sports News.

The 2030 tournament will be led by co-hosts Spain and Portugal in Europe, and Morocco in North Africa. Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina will each hold an opening match to mark 100 years since the first World Cup, which took place in Uruguay and was won by the hosts.

Before both of them, the US, Canada and Mexico will co-host the 2026 World Cup.

England’s Football Association (FA) supported the plans for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups, Sky Sports News understands.

‘Blatant sportswashing’

Saudi Arabia first published its bid for the World Cup back in August after FIFA controversially fast-tracked the process for hosting the tournaments in 2030 and 2034.

But, the plan for the 2034 tournament has led to criticism from activist groups, who argue that Saudi laws will not protect workers overseas.

The tournament will require the construction of eight new stadiums, for a total of 15 hosting venues, plus the addition of 175,000 hotel rooms, which will rely heavily on migrant labour.

One of the stadiums is planned in a city that doesn’t yet exist.

Critics of FIFA also insist a Saudi-based World Cup risks a repeat of the rights abuses seen during a decade of similar preparations for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Labour MP Andy Slaughter said the decision was “complete sportswashing” and last month, Amnesty International and the Sport & Rights Alliance called on FIFA to halt the process of picking Saudi Arabia as the host of the 2034 tournament unless major human rights reforms are announced before the vote.

Amnesty International accused the country of “blatant sportswashing” – the practice of using sports to improve a country’s or organisation’s reputation and often to distract from negative actions.

A Stonewall spokesperson said LGBTQ+ fans would feel unsafe at the prospect of attending the 2034 tournament.

‘We’ve come a long way’

Hitting back at criticism, Hammad Albalawi, head of Saudi Arabia’s bid, said at the beginning of December that the country has made significant progress in human rights while aiming to attract “more fans than ever” to the event.

He said Saudi Arabia is committed to transforming its social and economic landscape under Vision 2030 – a government programme announced back in 2016.

“We have come a long way and there’s still a long way to go. Our principle is to develop something that is right for us. Our journey started in 2016, not because of the World Cup bid,” Mr Albalawi told the Reuters news agency.

“We’ve launched initiatives granting employees the freedom to move between employers. Documents of these employees are now uploaded into government systems, ensuring they have rights within their contracts.”

He added that the tournament would be held in a “safe and family-friendly environment” regardless of the sale of alcohol – which is banned in the country.

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“I think today what you see in Saudi Arabia is an environment that is family-friendly, safe and secure – something that people can actually enjoy on and off the pitch,” Mr Albalawi said.

“Our aim and aspiration is to bring more teams and more fans into one place than ever before.”

FIFA previously praised the Saudi bid in an in-house evaluation, noting that the 48-team, 104-game tournament offers “significant opportunities for positive human rights impact”.

However, it added that Saudi Arabia must invest “significant effort and time” to comply with international standards.

Football has never seen a stadium as audacious and outlandish before.

A futuristic cliff-top venue will be built 350m above ground when the $1.5trn NEOM megaproject springs up from the Saudi Arabian desert.

There are no limits on ambition or spending to bring the World Cup to the kingdom in 2034 – and no need to win a bidding contest.

After flattering and funding FIFA, Saudi Arabia will today be confirmed as hosts of the 2034 World Cup by acclamation of football nations rather than a vote.

It is the rapid conclusion to a 14-month process engineered to secure their victory but a strategic success for the kingdom in avoiding a protracted contest.

And scrutiny of the fast-tracked process – ending at a virtual FIFA Congress – has diminished the spotlight on discriminatory laws, human rights violations and working conditions as 15 stadiums are built for its biggest sporting spectacle.

But FIFA endorses the Saudi view that a World Cup can be a catalyst for change by introducing labour reforms and providing more rights for women.

Bid leader Hammad Albalawi insists: “We are a young nation seizing this opportunity.”

An opportunity that has been facilitated by Gianni Infantino; the Saudis knowing the touch-points to pander to the globe-trotting FIFA president who collects photos for Instagram alongside the powerful and wealthy.

No country – where FIFA does not have offices – has been visited more by him in recent years.

By contrast, he never seemed to visit Australia before it hosted the Women’s World Cup in 2023 to check on preparations.

Even in the midst of Switzerland’s pandemic restrictions, when non-essential travel was advised against from FIFA’s base, Mr Infantino went to Saudi in early 2021 to be filmed talking up the oil-rich country in a government PR video, in a ceremonial sword dance around palaces of Diriyah.

It was clear where his priorities were as the Saudis proved savvy at winning over the governing body holding the keys to the World Cup hosting.

Mr Infantino skipped FIFA’s own large video gaming tournament in Liverpool this August to launch Saudi’s Esports World Cup in Riyadh alongside Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

That was before FIFA officially launched the 2034 bidding process.

And Mr Infantino has not held a single open news conference in the year since being accused of rigging the bidding process to help the Saudis – denying journalists the chance to put the claims to him directly.

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Secret behind-the-scenes deal

On the face of it, Mr Infantino can claim to have introduced a more open and transparent bidding process than his predecessors oversaw with published inspection reports and scoring.

There was also the ability for any country to enter – as long as you were from the Asia or Oceania regions.

And only if you could decide in less than four weeks whether your country could handle and fund a 48-team tournament with 104 matches – beyond nations with an electorate to consider and budgets to balance.

It was all assisted by a behind-the-scenes secret deal that knocked Europe, Africa and South America out of contention – combining their six countries bidding for the 2030 World Cup into a single, unprecedented mammoth tournament plan.

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Those regions then became ineligible to try to host the 2034 tournament.

So all paths – like so many in sport – now lead to Riyadh in 2034.

For Mark Pieth, who advised Sepp Blatter’s FIFA on anti-corruption and governance changes, it is all a “turn for the worse”.

The Swiss law professor told Sky News: “We tried to reform FIFA. What we’re now seeing is quite abominable.

“You have FIFA trying to break all the rules that they’ve given themselves, starting with deciding on two World Cups at the same time, no competition, manipulated reports and finally acclamation instead of a vote.”

The rigging claim would be disputed by FIFA, which yesterday said auditors BDO “concluded that both evaluation processes were executed with objectivity, integrity and transparency”.

There has been little dissent across world football – even from countries like Germany that took a vocal stand against Qatar while insisting they would not “gloss over” Saudi issues.

The English Football Association has been deliberating over whether to provide a public position on Saudi – a delicate balancing act while considering a future Women’s World Cup bid and needing FIFA on side.

And the FA speaking out on Saudi – if not the FIFA process – would put it at odds with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer who was in Riyadh this week for talks with the crown prince.

But one country that has led the charge against FIFA is Norway.

Their football association head, Lise Klaveness, first broke ranks to tell Sky News: “When decisions are made in closed rooms, it’s the opposite of what the reforms were promising us.”

And on Tuesday she confirmed Norway would attempt to abstain – although FIFA is set to avoid a vote.

She said: “The lack of predictability and open processes challenges trust in FIFA as the global custodian of football.”

Infantino’s rise and Saudi endorsement

It was Mr Infantino who was swept to power after the discredited Blatter reign ended in a wave of convictions of football officials after raids in 2015.

And the former general secretary at European governing body UEFA even sat on the reform committee that attempted to curb the powers of FIFA presidents before he ascended to that position himself and adjusted term limits to remain in post longer.

Miguel Maduro, who was forced out as governance chief by Mr Infantino, told Sky News: “They promised a much higher degree of transparency on how the bidding was going to take place. We saw nothing of that type in this process.

“Basically, it is something that was cooked internally, within what I usually call the political cartel that dominates FIFA.”

The pick cannot be reversed.

But there can be moves to protect the conditions of the migrant workforce – already said by Human Rights Watch to exceed 13 million in Saudi – as 15 stadiums and a vast wider infrastructure is built up.

Despite none of the stadiums being complete yet, FIFA still gave the Saudis the highest scoring since the inspection process was introduced for World Cup bidding by Mr Infantino.

FIFA’s inspection report did express concerns about “indecent working conditions” and found gaps complying with “international standards” that “contradict Islamic law”.

There are assurances fans will face no discrimination but anti-LGBTQ+ laws remain – a red line the conservative nation cannot cross and unmentioned in the mandatory human rights risk assessment.

Saudi Arabia’s growing influence on sport

Football is far from the first sport to be seduced by the Saudi riches – helping them cleanse the country’s image and distract from rights issues.

Boxing’s biggest bouts are now there, there has been an attempted takeover of golf by launching the rebel LIV series and a $1m golden ball was added to allow the kingdom to put its lavish imprint on snooker.

Much is bankrolled by the $900bn Public Investment Fund which has owned Newcastle United for three years.

And the sovereign wealth fund has a stake in state oil firm Aramco which became a FIFA sponsor in April.

Streaming platform DAZN, which has close ties to Saudi, seems to have bailed out FIFA’s new 32-team Club World Cup with a reported $1bn global broadcasting deal announced last week without a clear ability to recoup the cash as games air free.

No wonder dissent has been brushed aside by FIFA – even from the US where the Club World Cup will be staged next year followed by the main men’s World Cup in 2026.

Democrat senators Ron Wyden and Dick Durbin wrote to Mr Infantino in October: “The kingdom continues to torture dissidents, engage in extrajudicial killings, discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community, oppress women and religious minorities, exploit and abuse foreign workers, and restrict almost all political rights and civil liberties.”

How will the 2034 World Cup work for football?

For many in football – particularly domestic leagues – the bigger concern will be the impact on the calendar.

There are no commitments to stage the tournament in the typical June-July slot, with January-February 2034 looking more likely to avoid clashing with Ramadan and the Hajj.

Qatar 2022’s November-December slot showed how football can accommodate a switch without long-term damage to the club game.

But the message from within Saudi is they are a very different proposition to the first Middle East hosts – even if this World Cup pick is as controversial.

Where Qatar still lacks a vibrant local football culture, Saudi is home to Asia’s most successful team – Al Hilal.

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Esteve Calzada, the CEO of Al Hilal, told Sky News the example of Qatar strengthened the Saudi bid: “Even with so much criticism, I think there is a general consensus it was ultimately a very successful World Cup.

“In our case, I’m sure it will be the same. It’s a proper-sized country with passionate fans.”

Now there is a decade to convince the world’s football fans to descend on Saudi Arabia.

FIFA has delivered the sporting prize the crown prince craved in the easiest of football matches to win – one without any opponent.