RIYADH — The current month of October will be decisive with regard to Saudi Arabia's preparations after the official announcement of its intention to bid to host the FIFA World Cup 2034. This is in view of the fact that the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has set October 31 as the last date for receiving applications for organizing the global event. Saudi Arabia is receiving overwhelming support from numerous countries from Asia and other continents in its bid to host the World Cup 2034. Apart from Saudi Arabia, Australia is also planning to make its bid to host the World Cup 2034. It will be evident in the current month the requirements and standards for organizing the tournament as well as the voting mechanism, and the date of announcing the winner. Saudi Arabia, represented by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF), announced its intention to run for hosting the World Cup2034, at a time when the Kingdom is racing against time to establish and refurbish the vast infrastructure of stadiums, sports facilities, and huge sports cities to keep pace with the size of the hosting events that the country has begun and is expanding one season after another. According to a report in Asharq Al-Awsat, a SAFF delegation would travel to Zurich in the last days before Oct. 31 to submit documents and files related to the official application to host the World Cup, and it is expected that the moments of submission will witness historical coverage from the international media. Ever since the Saudi announcement about its intention to bid for hosting the global tournament on Oct. 4, several football federations from the Gulf, Arab and other countries from the Asian and African continents have come forward with a pledge of their full support to Saudi Arabia in its bid to host the World Cup. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Shaikh Salman Al Khalifa expressed his full support to Saudi Arabia's intention to bid for the coveted hosting rights. Welcoming SAFF's announcement to bid to host the FIFA World Cup 2034, the AFC president said: "I am delighted to note that the SAFF have presented their intention to bid for the FIFA World Cup in 2034. The entire Asian football family will stand united in support of Saudi Arabia's momentous initiative, and we are committed to working closely with the global football family to ensure its success." The football federations from Asian countries such as Kyrgyzstan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, India, and the Maldives as well as from African countries like Mauritania, Sudan, Kenya and Djibouti announced their support for Saudi Arabia. Many Arab federations also pledged their support and they include Lebanon, Syria, Qatar, Iraq, Yemen, Kuwait, Palestine, Bahrain, Jordan, the UAE, and Oman. The Saudi file enjoys great support from national federations in Asia, as well as the African Union, which has a close relationship with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation. The total number of members in the two continental federations is about 100 members out of 211 national federations that joined under the banner of FIFA. Saudi Arabia has close relations with many national federations in North America, which includes about 35 federations, 10 federations in South America, and the European Union, which includes about 53 national federations. The process of applying for candidacy to host the World Cup goes through several phases, starting with sending an official letter to FIFA requesting candidacy, followed by FIFA asking the federation wishing to host the event to furnish requirements and conditions for organizing the World Cup, which includes government guarantees to provide all the technical, logistical and financial standards for hosting, followed by submitting the official application for organizing the event, which must be done before Oct. 31, 2023. The date for announcing the winner of hosting the World Cup will be in the fourth quarter of 2024. Saudi Arabia is working to build stadiums, meeting FIFA standards, and fulfilling the terms and conditions that stipulate that the number of seats for fans must not be less than 40,000 seats. It is to be noted that Saudi Arabia owns two stadiums in which the number of seats exceeds 62,000 seats, and is seeking to build a stadium in the Riyadh Front and another one in Qiddiya as well as a stadium in NEOM, a stadium in central Jeddah, and a stadium in Dammam. It will also work to develop and modernize several stadiums in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Taif, and Buraidah, to be compatible and consistent with FIFA standards for the World Cup. According to FIFA's document of conditions for hosting the 2030 World Cup that was sent to Morocco, Portugal and Spain, there must be 14 stadiums, including a stadium with seating for 80,000 fans, a stadium with seating for 60,000, and the rest of the stadiums with a capacity of 40,000, and more than 70 training camps according to international standards. It is expected that the work of Qiddiya stadium and the stadium located north of the capital Riyadh, as well as the Dammam stadium will be completed in accordance with the specifications that suit the requirements of football matches and create an ideal environment for the fan experience before 2027. Multiple stadiums will also be developed in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, by increasing their capacity and removing tracks in some of them to contribute to increasing the capacity and improving the visibility of the green grass. Saudi Arabia's announcement of its intention to run for hosting the major football event comes to translate its great efforts in the international sports arena at the level of the events it hosts related to football and other sports events. The Kingdom has a great legacy in the forefront of sporting events and the presence of the national team in international forums, such as the World Cup, with its participation in six editions, starting from 1994 until the last World Cup in 2022, and recording a historic victory over Argentina that was classified as one of the biggest surprises of the World Cup throughout its history. The Green Falcons have a remarkable continental presence by winning the Asian Cup three times within the circle of elite continental teams that have won the title more than once, as Japan tops the list with four titles, followed by Saudi Arabia and Iran with three titles each. Saudi Arabia has previously participated in the Confederations Cup three times, when it hosted the tournament in the 1990s, in addition to participating in the Olympics more than once. This year, Saudi Arabia is preparing to host the Club World Cup event in December in the city of Jeddah for the first time, while it won the organization of the 2027 Asian Cup finals. It also competed to organize the 2026 Women's Asian Cup finals and won the organization of the 2034 Asian Games, and will be a new destination for the Asian Winter Games by organizing 2029 Winter Games in Trojena, NEOM. Saudi Arabia does not seem to be a stranger to the scene of international events, as it had previously proposed the idea of organizing the Confederations Cup, which it organized three times in 1992, 1995, and 1997. It was also the first Gulf country to host the World Youth Cup in 1989, when it was held in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, and Taif. Saudi Arabia is active in hosting many different sporting events, to the point that it has become a compass for many athletes around the world, as it hosted the Formula 1 and Formula E championships, the Extreme E electric car race, the Dakar Rally and the World Cup for Cross-Country Desert Rally in addition to local rallies that were held in different ways among Saudi cities and its large regions. Saudi Arabia also hosted many football events, such as the Italian and Spanish Super Cups, the Maradona Cup and the Super Clásico Cup, in addition to its serious work to host major football events such as its candidacy to host the 2026 Women's Asian Cup. Saudi Arabia's World Cup hosting bid aims to deliver a world-class tournament, drawing inspiration from the nation's ongoing social and economic transformation and its profound passion for football. The Kingdom is experiencing a comprehensive renaissance in all walks of life, and it is implementing vast networks of connectivity including public transport systems encompassing local airports, increasing number of airlines, public transport buses, and metro networks.
