Why has FIFA effectively handed hosting rights of 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia
The venue for the 2034 FIFA World Cup was effectively decided on Tuesday after Australia pulled out of the race to host the 48-team event, essentially clearing the way for the world body to award the hosting rights to Saudi Arabia.
Football Australia boss James Johnson had earlier said that his country was ‘exploring the possibility of 2034’, but amidst a host of challenging problems, it said that they would now focus on bids for the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup and the 2029 Club World Cup, which would feature 32 teams. Australia had also attempted to host the 2022 World Cup which was subsequently awarded to Qatar.
Why was the 2034 World Cup awarded to the Asia-Oceania group?
A mere 12 years after Qatar hosted the FIFA World Cup, the stage seems to have been set by FIFA itself to ensure that Saudi Arabia also gets to stage a World Cup.
Why make it so easy for Saudi Arabia?
Hosting the FIFA World Cup comes under the ambit of an expansive and ambitious strategy from the Saudi Arabian government, one that has made huge investments in different sports and begun attempts to become a de facto giant in the sporting arena. Part of it is aimed at diversifying their economy from oil and gas and become a sustainable economy once their reserves of natural resources are depleted.
Be it LIV Golf, Saudi Pro League, the acquisition of Newcastle United or even how the esports ecosystem has seen a shift towards Riyadh – Saudi Arabia has attempted to start a takeover of sport and been met with little to no challenge. Most of this is due to the money factor. The Saudi state has bankrolled vast sums of money to make these events happen – offering record sums to players from Europe’s top leagues to come to the Saudi Pro League, doing the same with players from the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour (formerly known as the European Tour) to persuade them to join LIV Golf.
