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03-03-2024
ZURICHBERG: Saudi Arabia launched its campaign to host the 2034 soccer World Cup, a bid that is all but certain to succeed due to the absence of any other expressions of interest before FIFA’s deadline late last year.
With Morocco, Portugal and Spain set to share the hosting of the 2030 tournament, global governing body FIFA limited the 2034 contest to bidders from the Asian and Oceania confederations.
Saudi Arabia would be the second country from the Gulf region to host the showpiece event, after neighboring Qatar staged the 2022 finals.
The Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) said its “Growing Together” World Cup campaign would showcase the way the nation was strengthening bonds with other countries through sport.
The Saudis have invested heavily in high-profile sports such as soccer, Formula One, boxing and golf over the last few years, leading critics to accuse the oil-rich kingdom of “sports-washing” its human rights record.
The country denies accusations of human rights abuses and says it protects its national security through its laws.
“Telling our football story to the world is of massive importance,” SAFF President Yasser Al Misehal said in a statement.
“We’ve made unprecedented progress in both the men’s and women’s game, and our bid is an open invitation to the world to join us on this exciting journey.”
The next step in the process is the submission of the full bid documents to FIFA in July, with the appointment of hosts for both the 2030 and 2034 World Cups set to be rubber stamped at a FIFA Congress towards the end of the year.
The next World Cup will take place in the United States, Mexico and Canada in 2026.
As one of the fastest and most exciting growth stories in world football seeks to capture the parallel between Saudi Arabia’s rapid transformation and the positive impact hosting the tournament would have on both international football and FIFA’s flagship event. Aspiring to become the first single host nation of a 48-team FIFA World Cup™, the three pillars underpinning the bid are:
Growing People Together, Growing Football Together and Growing Connections Together.
Over the last six years Saudi Arabia has successfully hosted over 100 international events across almost 40 sports and is in active football partnerships with more than 100 countries. The campaign slogan aims to capture the spirit of that bond, as the Kingdom, its people and world football help build a better future.
President of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) Yasser Al Misehal said “telling our football story to the world is of massive importance and we believe Growing Together is the perfect, yet simple description of our approach to hopefully hosting the tournament in 10 years’ time. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
