Saudi Arabia stops being a candidate to host the 2030 World Cup

After causing a stir in world football, Saudi Arabia has suddenly withdrawn from its role as a candidate to host the 2030 World Cup.

Saudi Arabia dừng làm ứng cử viên đăng cai World Cup 2030. (Nguồn: Sportskeeda)

Saudi Arabia stops being a candidate to host the 2030 World Cup. (Source: Sportskeeda)

Saudi Arabia's decision clears the way for a joint bid by Spain, Portugal and Morocco to host the 2030 World Cup, which will mark a century since the world football championship was contested.

Morocco's recent decision to join the union with two Iberian peninsula countries is seen as a major turning point.

Saudi Arabia's initial proposal was to join forces with Greece and Egypt to host the first World Cup to take place on three different continents (Asia-Europe-Africa).

In recent times, Saudi Arabia has recruited many stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema or N'Golo Kante, as a way to promote the country as well as act as ambassadors for the 2030 World Cup.

With Morocco agreeing to join Spain and Portugal in an alliance, Saudi Arabia is reassessing its chances.

Saudi Arabia believes that Morocco joining hands with two European countries will gain a large share of African votes. That makes it difficult for other rivals to compete.

Saudi Arabia also abandoned its plan to provide infrastructure support to Greece and Egypt.

This was made clear by Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, who on the night of June 22 spoke about the renunciation with his counterparts.

Spain-Portugal-Morocco are considered the most promising candidates to host the 2030 football tournament, surpassing the other candidate, the Uruguay-Argentina-Chile-Paraguay alliance.

A few months ago, the Saudi Arabian government made clear its readiness to host the World Cup thanks to its plan to "create quality opportunities and an attractive investment environment for the sports sector to achieve a sustainable sports economy, improve the level of professionalism and administrative management".

One of the important steps is to provide financial support to sports clubs, besides improving the level of the teams, developing infrastructure to provide the best services to fans.

Saudi Arabia also has ambitions to turn the Saudi Pro League into one of the top 10 football leagues in the world. Ronaldo (Al-Nassr); Benzema and Kante (Al-Ittihad) are the first steps.

After a detailed study of the real possibilities, Saudi Arabia concluded that it could not overcome the Spanish-Portuguese-Morocco candidate because it understood that the opponent had greater advantages.

The host of the 2030 World Cup will be known in 2024, after a vote by all FIFA member associations (211).

Source