Football: FIFA confirms Saudi Arabia as only bidder to host 2034 World Cup

FIFA have confirmed that Saudi Arabia have submitted the only bid to host the 2034 World Cup. Australia opted against bidding for the 2034 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday (Oct 31), hours before the deadline for 'declarations of interest' was set to expire. Football Australia said it had decided after considering all factors.

Australia's decision to skip the bidding process had long been coming, especially after Saudi Arabia opted to submit an official proposal for the marquee event last month.

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“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,” said the Australian FA in a statement.

It added that the Down Under country was still interested in hosting the Women’s Asian Cup in 2026 and the 2029 Club World Cup.

“For international tournament hosting, the Australian time zones provide significant opportunities for broadcasters, and we are within touching distance of billions of people in Asia and Oceania, which also helps to provide a strong commercial outlook for competitions,” FA said, explainingthe advantage of hosting world events in Australia.

Why did Australia not submit the bid?

As soon as FIFA last month announced the venues for the 2030 World Cup, Saudi Arabia sprang into action and submitted a letter of intent to host the event to the world football governing body.

According to the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF), after the kingdom showed its intention to bid for the tournament, "over 70 FIFA member associations from across different continents" pledged their support. The last straw for Australia came when the Asian Football Confederation also decided to back Saudi Arabia's 2034 bid.

With Australia opting out, the path for Saudi Arabia to host the quadrennial event is wide open. If all things fall in place, the football World Cup will return to Asia, 12 years after Qatar hosted the 2022 World Cup.

What did FIFA announce?

Last month, FIFA announced it had reached an agreement to host the 2030 World Cup across three continents viz, South America, Africa and Europe.

While Morocco, Portugal and Spain will be the joint hosts for the marquee event, games will also be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. As a result, all six nations will automatically qualify for the World Cup.

"In 2030, the FIFA World Cup will unite three continents and six countries, inviting the entire world to join in the celebration of the beautiful game, the Centenary and the FIFA World Cup itself," FIFA said in a statement.

FIFA said the World Cup matches were being held in South America as part of the centenary celebration of the first World Cup held in Uruguay.

(With inputs from agencies)

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