Saudi Arabia reveals Fifa World Cup 2034 venue plans
1 August 2024
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Saudi Arabia has revealed that it plans to construct 11 new stadiums as part of its bid to host the Fifa World Cup 2034.
Eight out of the 15 stadiums are located in the capital, Riyadh, four in Jeddah and one each in Al-Khobar, Abha and Neom.
The proposal outlines an additional 10 cities that will host training bases. These include Al-Baha, Jazan, Taif, Medina, Alula, Umluj, Tabuk, Hail, Al-Ahsa and Buraidah.
The bid proposes 134 training sites across the kingdom, including 61 existing facilities and 73 new training venues.
The stadiums include:
Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia officially submitted its bid book to host the World Cup 2034 event at a ceremony hosted by Fifa in Paris, France.
According to the official bid book document, eight of these stadiums are in the planning stage. Four stadiums will be refurbished and expanded to meet the hosting criteria, while three are already under construction.
The showpiece venue for the tournament will be the newly announced King Salman Stadium, which will be located in north Riyadh, next to King Abdulaziz Park.
The stadium will cover an area of about 660,000 square metres (sq m) and have a seating capacity of over 92,000 spectators.
The 46,000-seat stadium in Neom is “designed to stand out among the world’s most iconic landmarks”, according to the bid book. It is planned to be built 350 metres above ground level within The Line project at Neom.
Building infrastructure
Building stadiums is the most prominent part of the bid to host the coveted Fifa World Cup.
The kingdom has recently ramped up its announcements regarding building new stadiums across the country, the biggest of which is the King Salman Stadium.
The plan to build the King Salman Stadium was followed by Roshn’s announcement that it would build another stadium in the southwest of Riyadh.
The planned facility will have the capacity to accommodate 46,000 spectators and will span an area of over 450,000 sq m.
The announcement followed the unveiling of designs for the New Murabba Stadium by the Public Investment Fund (PIF)-backed New Murabba Development Company.
The project, which will have the capacity to accommodate 45,000 spectators, will be built in Riyadh’s New Murabba downtown development.
Construction works are also expected to begin this year on the Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Stadium in Qiddiya City.
The stadium will have a capacity of 45,000 spectators and will feature a fully combined retractable pitch, roof and LED wall.
Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia’s Sports Ministry floated tenders for the expansion of Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium and King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh.
According to the regional projects tracker MEED Projects, the stadiums already under construction in the kingdom include the Jeddah Central stadium and Aramco’s Dammam stadium.
Saudi Arabia will likely invest hundreds of billions of dollars in developing the required infrastructure to host the Fifa World Cup 2034. Experience from previous World Cups, including the most recent one in Qatar, has shown that hosting the tournament can transform a country’s economy.
The tournament brings in fans from around the world to enjoy a month-long festival of football. After the 2022 tournament, Qatar issued a statement saying that more than 1.4 million fans had visited the country during the event.
Football investments
Becoming the sole bidder for the Fifa World Cup 2034 is the latest milestone in Saudi Arabia’s strategy to become a leading force in the growing business of global football. Speaking at the Future Investment Forum in Riyadh in October last year, Fifa president Gianni Infantino described the sport as a $200bn-a-year economy.
The first clear sign of Riyadh’s football-focused strategy came in October 2021, when a consortium led by PIF completed the full acquisition of UK football club Newcastle United from St James Holdings.
The investment group, which also includes PCP Capital Partners and RB Sports & Media, finalised the long-awaited deal after having secured approval from the English Premier League. The deal was estimated to be worth $415m.
In November 2022, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud attended the World Cup opening ceremony in Qatar. During the event, he sat with and embraced Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, a move that emphasised the strengthening of ties between the two nations.
A few days later, the Saudi national team stunned the world when it beat event tournament winner Argentina 2-1 during a group stage match.
Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo joined the Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr in December 2022. The club reportedly paid over $200m to sign the player. Within days, Al-Nassr’s Instagram account had grown from 800,000 followers to over 6 million.
In June 2023, PIF moved to boost the popularity of the kingdom’s domestic league by investing in four Saudi football clubs – Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli, Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal. These clubs were converted into companies, predominantly owned by PIF and complemented by non-profit foundations.
The move was followed by a summer of intense football transfer activity, which included Brazilian star Neymar signing for Al-Hilal.
Bid process
Saudi Arabia formally kicked off the World Cup participation process in October last year after it announced that it planned to bid to host the event. At the time, it was announced that the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) would lead the 2034 World Cup bid.
Later the same month, Saudi Arabia was effectively confirmed as the 2034 Fifa World Cup host after Australia, the only other bidder for the tournament, withdrew from the race.
This was followed by Saudi Arabia’s official bid campaign reveal and the submission of its bid to Fifa to host the World Cup 2034 event.
The official selection of Saudi Arabia as the 2034 host is expected to be confirmed on 11 December.
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