Published9. October 2023, 3:49 p.m
Confirmed: Saudi Arabia is applying for the 2034 World Cup
Saudi Arabia officially enters the race for the 2034 World Cup. On Monday, the kingdom will submit a declaration of intent to FIFA.
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The country recently launched a major football offensive and welcomed superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo…
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… or Neymar (bottom right) brought into the domestic league.
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Saudi Arabia has submitted its declaration of intent to apply for the 2034 World Cup to FIFA, the world governing body. The national association Saff announced this on Monday. “This is the second step in an extremely exciting journey that the nation is embarking on. Last week we announced our ambitions to host the 2034 World Cup and with this official submission we continue our journey to make the dreams of our people a reality,” association boss Yasser Al Misehal was quoted as saying.
It was only on Wednesday that the Fifa Council announced that the 2030 World Cup would begin with three games in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay and then be played in Morocco, Spain and Portugal – i.e. on three continents. The decision still has to be confirmed by the FIFA Congress. At the same time, FIFA announced that only representatives from Asia and Oceania should apply for the 2034 World Cup in accordance with the rotation principle, which was seen as a clear signal to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia is currently the only applicant
According to Saff’s announcement, 70 FIFA member associations have already supported the application. Associations can register their interest in applying by October 31, 2023. Final applications must be submitted to FIFA in July 2024. Apart from Saudi Arabia, no other country has yet announced an application for 2034.
However, the kingdom is heavily criticized for violations of human rights. Saudi Arabia is accused of wanting to burnish its image by investing billions of dollars in sport. Just this summer, numerous football stars moved to the Saudi league for extremely high salaries. Saudi Arabia originally wanted to host the 2030 World Cup. However, this went to Portugal, Spain and Morocco.
(dpa/sih)
2023-10-09 17:14:53
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