Saudi Arabia has formally informed FIFA of its wish to host the men’s World Cup in 2034 in a bidding contest that increasingly looks designed for the kingdom to win.
The Saudi Arabian soccer federation said it “submitted a letter of intent and signed declaration to FIFA to bid” in a vote that is open only to members of the Asian and Oceania soccer governing bodies.
FIFA fast-tracked starting the 2034 contest last week after its ruling body also agreed to accept only one candidate for the 2030 World Cup – now an unprecedented six-nation, three-continent co-hosting plan in Europe, Africa and South America that removed those continents from bidding to get back-to-back tournaments.
The Spain-Portugal-Morocco-Argentina-Paraguay-Uruguay project in 2030 will follow the inaugural 48-team, 104-game tournament in 2026 in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
That allows the 2034 edition to return to Asia 12 years after Qatar hosted the 2022 World Cup.
Last week, FIFA set tight deadlines of October 31 to formally express interest in hosting and November 30 to return a signed bidding agreement that requires the support of national governments.
Australian soccer officials have shown interest in the 2034 tournament after successfully co-hosting the 32-team women’s edition with New Zealand two months ago, but they now have only eight weeks to produce a bidding agreement.
Australia also may be short of the FIFA-demanded seven existing stadiums on a minimum slate of 14 soccer-suitable venues of at least 40,000-seating capacity.
Saudi Arabia, which is preparing to host the 2027 Asian Cup, meets that FIFA criteria.
A Saudi-hosted World Cup, as in Qatar last year, would probably be played in November-December during the heart of the European season, and that will require dealing with influential European clubs and domestic leagues.
However, the FIFA Council, which agreed to the 2034 World Cup bidding process, included nine delegates from European soccer body UEFA.
The council was scheduled in June to approve bidding rules for 2030 but delayed that decision days after the Greek government said a speculated Saudi-led co-hosting plan that also included Egypt had been dropped.
Meanwhile the hosts for the 2027 Women’s World Cup will not be decided until May 2024.
© AAP
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