Saudi Arabia could soon become the fourth Asian country to host the FIFA World Cup after the nation officially launched its bid on Friday (Mar 1).
Saudi Arabia is now the front-runner to secure the rights to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup after FIFA had earlier announced them as the only candidate. The bid was made officially under the campaign slogan “Growing. Together” as Saudi Arabia intends to replicate its gulf neighbour Qatar, which hosted the FIFA World Cup in 2022.
Saudi Arabia bids for FIFA World Cup
“This campaign is powered by the hopes and dreams of 32 million people in Saudi Arabia,” the head of the SAFF bid unit, Hammad Albalawi, said in a statement.
“Our responsibility is to submit the best possible bid to FIFA, make our country proud, and fulfill the trust placed upon us by more than 130 Member Associations across the world who supported our bid,” it added.
After a decent success during the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, Saudi Arabia did not hide its intentions and announced its desire to host the most-watched event on the planet. In the build-up to the official bid, Saudi Arabia has been preparing itself with lucrative football brands in the nation and revamping the Saudi Pro League (SPL), where some of the best players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Karim Benzema and others are applying their trade.
The Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) revealed its bid logo, website, as well as a short bid film that celebrates “the passion, spirit and diversity of football in Saudi Arabia”.