FIFA president Gianni Infantino has expressed his optimism about a World Cup in the Middle East.
Infantino took to Instagram to express his positivity towards Saudi Arabia, the only applicant for the 2034 World Cup.
Australia had on Tuesday decided against bidding for the 2034 football World Cup, strengthening Saudi Arabia’s position as the favourite to host the event.
Football Australia pulled its bid on the October 31 deadline after the Asian Football Confederation threw its weight behind Saudi Arabia.
“Football unites the world like no other sport, and the FIFA World Cup is the perfect showcase for a message of unity and inclusion, as well as providing an important illustration of how different cultures can be together and can learn and better understand one another.
“As we live in an increasingly divided and aggressive world, we show once again that football, the leading global sport, unites like nothing else. We all need these occasions of unity and the upcoming FIFA World Cups provide a unique force for good in this respect.” Infantino said.
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Morocco, Portugal and Spain are applying to host the 2030 finals together, and Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay have applied to stage a preliminary match each to mark the 100th anniversary of the first World Cup finals held in South America.
“Three editions, five continents and ten countries involved in staging matches in the tournament- that’s making football truly global!” Infantino said.
Also Read: Australia Leaves 2034 World Cup Bid For Saudi
According to the FIFA boss, the bidding processes were approved byconsensus via the FIFA Council – where all six confederations are represented – after constructive dialogue and extensive consultation.
Formal award of the championships in 2030 and 2034 will take place at a FIFA congress after a process of dialogue and thorough evaluation of the applications against the set criteria, as well as approval by the FIFA Board.
The dialogue will focus on priority areas such as infrastructure, services, commercial considerations, sustainability and human rights.
Thereafter, FIFA will publish its evaluation reports, and if the requirements are met, the member associations will designate the host nations at the FIFA congress.
