Saudi Arabia is set to host the 2034 Men’s World Cup as announced by the Federation Of International Football [FIFA].
This comes after Australia, the only other contender opted against mounting a rival bid.
According to the World’s Governing body of football, Saudi Arabia’s “declaration of interest” was the only one submitted on Tuesday — a deadline for would-be bidders that was only set this month.
After earlier exploring the opportunity of seeking to host the forthcoming event, Football Australia reached the conclusion not to do so.
After the game’s global governing body announced that the 2030 tournament had been awarded to a joint bid from Spain, Portugal and Morocco, the process of picking a host for the tournament was abruptly reshaped by FIFA preventing all European and African nations from bidding for 2034.
As announced by FIFA, three games have been scheduled to take place in South America to mark the centenary of the world cup which was held in Uruguay.
Only countries in Asia and Oceania were permitted to bid for 2034 with USA, Canada and Mexico jointly hosting the 2026 world cup.
Giving would-be hosts just three weeks to submit their expressions of interest, FIFA crucially curtailed the entire bidding process for 2034. Within minutes of announcement, Saudi Arabia confirmed its bid.
Shortly after the 2030 hosts were announced, Yasser Al Misehal, the President of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation said in a statement ”We believe the time is right for Saudi Arabia to host the World Cup”.
As its member, the Asian Football Confederation soon after the announcement said it backed Riyadh’s bid to host the global tournament.
As part of its broader expansion into global sport, Saudia Arabia’s unopposed bid will accelerate its push into football.
To bring big- name players including Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, etc, Saudi clubs spent 800 million Euros on transfer fees over the summer transfer window.