Saudi Arabia seems set to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup after its only potential rival Australia bowed out of the race just hours before Tuesday’s (October 31) FIFA deadline.
“We have explored the opportunity to bid to host the FIFA World Cup and – having taken all factors into consideration – we have reached the conclusion not to do so for the 2034 competition,” a statement from Football Australia read.
Instead, Australian football officials intend to pursue the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in 2026 and the Club World Cup in 2029.
If Saudi Arabia gets the nod from FIFA, the Kingdom would have to prepare two of the largest sports events on the planet just weeks or months apart. In 2020 capital Riyadh was elected to host the 2034 Asian Games in a double allocation that saw Doha in Qatar chosen to stage the event in 2030.
The Asian Games, often considered the second largest multi sport event in the world after the Olympic Games, will take place November 29 to December 14 in 2034.
The 2034 race was set up earlier this month after a joint project among Spain, Portugal and Morocco was chosen for election as the only bid to host in 2030. That three-continent World Cup, the first of it’s kind, will have additional matches in South America to honor the centenary edition of the event.
The 2026 edition is scheduled for North America with matches split among the United States, Canada and Mexico.
FIFA invited only Asian nations to bid for the 2034 edition giving those interested only days to decide how to move forward.
FIFA confirmed the bidders for both editions in an announcement Tuesday, but warned “the FIFA administration will conduct thorough bidding and evaluation processes” for each bid.
“The FIFA administration will conduct a targeted dialogue with bidders, to ensure complete, comprehensive bids are received and evaluated against the minimum hosting requirements as also previously approved by the FIFA Council. This dialogue will focus on the defined priority areas of the event vision and key metrics, infrastructure, services, commercial, and sustainability and human rights.”
Saudi Arabia has been accused of “appalling” human right violations with both the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International recently urging FIFA to manage the bid with transparency and require “clear and binding commitments” from the organizers. They contend that Saudi Arabia is using events such as the Asian Games and FIFA World Cup for ‘sportswashing’ – a term referring to the use of sport to detract international attention from reputational issues.
The hosts will be appointed at a FIFA Congress to take place by the end of next year.
Australia had been in talks with Indonesia over a possible joint bid with Malaysia and Singapore, but instead the nation switched allegiances, backing Saudi Arabia with the hopes of hosting some of the matches. Indonesia was not mentioned inn FIFA’s statement.
That change was a blow to Australia’s viability in the race. The 2032 Olympic Games that have already been awarded to Brisbane had also been considered a potential roadblock to a successful organization of both events.
