2023-10-31 14:10:27
Australia decided on Tuesday to abandon its bid to host the 2034 Football World Cup, further strengthening the position of Saudi Arabia, more than ever favorite to host the event.
“We studied the possibility of submitting a bid to host the FIFA World Cup and, after taking into account all factors, we decided not to do so for the competition organized in 2034,” writes the Football Federation Australia in a press release.
She also justifies this decision by a desire to put all her strength into the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup and the 2029 Club World Cup. “To achieve this – after the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand and with the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games – would represent a truly golden decade for Australian football,” writes the federation.
Australia is strongly positioned to host future major tournaments including the AFC Women’s Asian Cup™ 2026 and 2029 FIFA Club World Cup™.
Full statement ⬇️
— Football Australia (@FootballAUS) October 31, 2023
After announcing that it was in discussions with Australia for a joint candidacy for the organization of the 2034 World Cup, the Indonesian football federation finally supported the Saudi candidacy around ten days ago, already officially supported by the Asian Football Confederation. .
The deadline for sending applications was set for October 31 by the international football federation (Fifa). After the designation at the beginning of October of Spain, Morocco and Portugal as hosts of the 2030 edition of the World Cup, Fifa launched a call for applications for that of 2034, limiting it to the Asian and Oceanic confederations, in the name of the principle of rotation.
Saudi Arabia, which was already targeting the 2030 World Cup, is currently investing massively to carve out a place for itself in world football, like its clubs, which for example managed to attract Frenchman Karim Benzema this summer ( Al-Ittihad) or the Brazilian Neymar (Al-Hilal).
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