(Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
OAN’s James Meyers
10:17 AM – Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Saudi Arabia will be the host of the world’s biggest sports tournament in 2034.
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The announcement came on Tuesday, after Australia who was the only other country who showed interest in hosting, made a last minute decision not to bid.
“We have reached the conclusion not to do so for the 2034 competition,” a statement from Football Australia said Tuesday, just hours before FIFA’s deadline for declarations of interest.
FIFA had asked for bids from Asia and Oceania for the tournament by Tuesday, and Saudi Arabia announced it would bid minutes after the announcement of hosting came on October 4th.
However, the soccer organization said it will “conduct thorough bidding and evaluation processes” for the 2030 and 2034 tournaments.
With Saudi Arabia becoming hosts, it would make it the second Arab Gulf country to ever host the global tournament, after Qatar hosted the last one in 2022.
Meanwhile, the 2030 FIFA World Cup will be hosted by Spain, Morocco and Portugal, with the three opening matches to be played in South America.
Human rights activists are not in favor of the move by FIFA to allow Saudi Arabia to become the hosts.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said over time there are “bad laws” in his country he does “not like” but that he cannot interfere with the judiciary.
In June, Saudi Arabia’s newly developed LIV Golf league and the PGA tour merger surprised many people in the world of sports.
Additionally, between 2021 and June 2023, Saudi Arabia spent $6.1 billion on sports investments, according to the Guardian.
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