The 2034 World Cup should be held in Saudi Arabia, given that no one else from Asia has submitted an intent to bid.
The proposed joint bids by members of ASEAN, first discussed as a possibility in 2019, or Indonesia’s recent hype about a possible bid, also did not materialise when it came down to the crunch.
Saudi Arabia was the only football association to present a bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup before the deadline closed at the end of October, with questions also being raised about the transparency of the entire process, and the threat of sportwashing given the kingdom’s appalling human rights record.
FIFA had invited bids from Asia and Oceania for the tournament by 31 October and Saudi Arabia had announced it would bid only minutes after the announcement on 4 October.
Just before the bid closed, Australia said it would not be presenting a bid to host the tournament, leaving the Saudis as the only candidate.
“As established in the Bidding Regulations approved by the FIFA Council, the FIFA administration will conduct thorough bidding and evaluation processes for the 2030 and 2034 editions of the FIFA World Cup, with the hosts to be appointed by FIFA Congresses expected to take place by Q4 2024,” FIFA said.
Saudi Football Association President Yasser Al Misehal said the federation is fully committed to fulfil all FIFA requirements for the right to host the quadrennial blockbuster.
“All members of the Saudi football family are doing their best to achieve the dream of the Saudis male and females to see the World Cup in the Kingdom for the first time,” he said on X.
“We believe in the great power of football to inspire future generations and we hope World Cup 2034 contributes to the development of the game throughout the world.”
The 2030 World Cup will be jointly hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain with Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay hosting celebratory games.
On 4 October, FIFA had annoucned that the combined bid of Morocco, Spain and Portugal would host the 2030 World Cup subject to the completion of a successful bidding process.
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