90 countries support Saudi Arabia in its bid to host the 2034 World Cup
Despite the official statements issued by the Indonesian Federation regarding the study of submitting a joint bid with Australia and Singapore to host the 2034 World Cup, campaigns of support and support by continental, regional and national federations around the world are still reaching Saudi Arabia, which has officially been nominated to organize the 2034 World Cup, the most recent of which was the Equatorial Guinea Federation. of the Confederation of African Football.
According to the latest statistics from Asharq Al-Awsat, the number of national federations that supported Saudi Arabia on its way to running to host the World Cup reached nearly 91 national federations in the world out of 211 registered with the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA). It is expected that more national federations will reveal their support and support for Saudi Arabia during the period. Coming.
Saudi Arabia received great support from local federations in the continents of Asia, Africa, North and Central America, and Europe. The number of federations supporting Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the 2034 World Cup reached about 90 federations.
The Gulf states announced their support for Saudi Arabia, through the federations of Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the Emirates, and Oman, while Iraq and Yemen supported the Saudi bid to host the Great World Cup.
While continental and regional federations supported the Saudi bid to bid to host the tournament; The Asian Football Confederation, through its president, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim, announced support for the Saudi file, as well as the Arab Federation, the Gulf Federation, and the West Asian Federation.
Arab countries joined in supporting Saudi Arabia in hosting the World Cup, as Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Sudan, the Kingdom of Morocco, Libya, and Tunisia announced their support for the Kingdom’s bid to organize the tournament.
From Africa, multiple federations announced their support for the Saudi file. Including Mauritania, Kenya, Djibouti, Somalia, Niger, Nigeria, Comoros, Liberia, Gambia, Zambia, Gabon, Tanzania, Eritrea, Burkina Faso, the Union of Botswana, Malawi, the Union of the Congo, the Union of South Africa, Mozambique and Equatorial Guinea.
From Asia, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Maldives, Malaysia, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Laos, Brunei, Cambodia, Tajikistan, Mongolia, East Timor, Myanmar and Guam announced their support for the Saudi file.
From Europe, the federations of Albania, Turkey, Greece and Azerbaijan announced their support for the Saudi file.
From America, the federations of Panama, the Bahamas, the federation of Montserrat, the US Virgin Islands, the federation of Guyana, Haiti, the federation of Suriname, Saint Lucia, the federation of El Salvador, the federation of Belize, the federation of Guatemala, the federation of Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Honduras, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic announced their support for the Saudi move to host the World Cup.
In addition, the President of the Indonesian Football Association said yesterday (Wednesday) that his country is in discussions with Australia regarding a possible joint bid to host the 2034 World Cup with Malaysia and Singapore as well.
Last week, FIFA invited member associations from Asia and the Oceania region to submit bids for the rights to the 2034 edition.
The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Indonesian Federation President Eric Tohir as saying, “We are discussing an offer with Australia.”
He added: “When I visited Malaysia and Singapore, the two countries expressed their desire to join Indonesia and Australia.”
Infographic showing the time period from the start of the opening of nominations until the announcement of the winner to host the World Cup (Design: Siham Al-Omari)
In response to a request from Reuters for comment, Football Federation Australia referred to a statement last week that said: “We are exploring the possibility of submitting bids to host the 2029 Club World Cup and/or the 2034 World Cup.” The Asian Football Confederation said it would not comment on the report. The Indonesian Federation, the Malaysian Federation and the Singapore Federation did not respond to requests from Reuters for comment. After announcing that Spain, Morocco and Portugal will organize the 2030 World Cup finals, with Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina hosting the opening matches of this edition, FIFA invited Asia and Oceania to submit bids to host the tournament in 2034.
The Saudi Football Association announced its official candidacy to host the 2034 World Cup. FIFA set a deadline of October 31 for other interested parties to announce their intentions.
After Qatar hosted the 2022 edition, Akmal Marhali, from a football organization in Indonesia, said that it may be too early for the World Cup to return to the Middle East.
He said: “We have a strong file. But the possibility of winning if Australia, Malaysia and Singapore join will be greater.”
The United States, Canada and Mexico will host the 2026 World Cup, in which 48 teams will compete. Indonesian football has faced many problems over the past year.
Last March, the International Federation (FIFA) stripped the Southeast Asian country of the right to host the U-20 World Cup after the local federation announced the cancellation of the draw. The governor of Bali refused to host the Israeli team.
FIFA froze development funds allocated to the Indonesian Federation as part of sanctions, but it later chose Indonesia to host the U-17 World Cup, after Peru was unable to fulfill its infrastructure obligations.
Indonesia also witnessed one of the world’s worst stadium disasters last year, when 135 people died, most of them from suffocation, in a stampede after a match in the city of Malang.
While Indonesia revealed, on Wednesday, the existence of discussions with Australia regarding a possible joint bid to host the 2034 World Cup alongside Malaysia and Singapore, the President of the Malaysian Federation, Datuk Hamidin Amin, said that Malaysia would support Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the 2034 edition instead.
Hamidin said that the majority of the AFC members also support Saudi Arabia.
Hamidin added: “We (Malaysia) have not held any talks about hosting the 2034 World Cup with anyone, nor do we have any intention of submitting bids to host the World Cup anytime soon. We support the Saudi bid with the majority of the AFC countries, and we believe that Saudi Arabia is capable of hosting a successful World Cup tournament.”
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) invited bids from regions of Asia and Oceania to host the World Cup after choosing Morocco, Spain and Portugal as joint hosts for the year 2030.
The President of the Asian Football Confederation, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, a Bahraini, said earlier that “the entire Asian football family will stand united to support the important initiative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
2023-10-11 23:22:37
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