Saudi Arabia’s bid to win the 2034 men’s soccer World Cup on Wednesday cleared one of the few obstacles standing in its way to a seemingly inevitable victory.
A week after revealing he was in discussions with Australia about filing a joint bid for the 2034 World Cup, Indonesian soccer federation head Erick Thohir said his organization now supports Saudi Arabia.
This about-face by Thohir was announced in a press release from the Indonesian soccer federation posted on its website, just a few hours after a videoconference from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) – an organization which brings together 47 members, including the Australia, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.
During this meeting, FIFA President Gianni Infantino urged AFC members to be “united for the 2034 World Cup”.
Infantino has always been very close to Saudi interests and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and FIFA’s surprising decision to accelerate the process of awarding the prestigious 2034 soccer tournament two weeks ago was seen as being favorable to the Saudis.
AFC members quickly responded to Infantino’s request, and the Japanese soccer federation offered unwavering support to Saudi Arabia, whose bid was already supported by Uzbekistan, Lebanon and India .
“Japan plans to organize a World Cup by 2050, but currently Asia must unite to submit a single candidacy (for 2034),” declared the head of the Japanese soccer federation, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto , saluting in passing “the long sporting history, the excessive passion and the unique vision for 2034” of Saudi Arabia.
The leaders of the Australian soccer federation did not take part in the videoconference.
The FIFA Council, which is chaired by Infantino, indicated two weeks ago that only members of the AFC and the organization which brings together Oceania – including New Zealand and a string of islands of the Pacific Ocean — could submit their candidacy for the 2034 tournament. He also accepted the joint candidacy of six countries from Europe, Africa and South America for the 2030 World Cup.
FIFA has given federations in Asia and Oceania until October 31 to register their interest in the 2034 tournament, and just another month to submit a formal bid plan that is backed by the government.
Saudi Arabia confirmed its intentions immediately after FIFA announced the official start of the process to award the 2034 World Cup on October 4. Minutes later, AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa said the Saudis had his full support.