February 15 – Days after Real Madrid claimed the 2022 Club World Cup, Saudi Arabia has landed the hosting rights to the 2023 tournament, the first major FIFA tournament to be staged in the Arab Kingdom in the Gianni Infantino era.
In 2025 the Club World Cup will move to becoming a 32-team competition but for 2023, and presumably for 2024, it will remain a seven team event.
Saudi Arabia is building its credentials as a host for major events and in Morocco at the just completed CWC, Visit Saudi and Neom sponsorship branding was ubiquitous. The decision to award Saudi the hosting for 2023 was passed by the FIFA Council “unanimously”. The tournament will be played 12 to 22 December 2023.’
In 1997 Saudi Arabia staged the Confederations Cup in Riyadh where Brazil won the World Cup warm-up tournament (though World Cup 98 was played in France) with a dazzling Romario, defeating Australia 6-0 in the final. It’s the first time that the Arab country will organise a FIFA tournament under Infantino’s reign.
The Zurich supremo has nurtured a close relationship with Saudi Arabia, often visiting Riyadh and meeting with crown prince Mohamed bin Salman, who remains one of the most controversial and influential world leaders because of Saudi Arabia’s lamentable human rights record and the global condemnation of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Those considerations have however not prevented Infantino from seeking the friendship of Saudi Arabia, who as a backer of Japan’s Softbank had an interest in buying a $20 billion+ majority ownership stake in two FIFA competitions in 2018. SAFF also supported Infantino’s plans for a biennial World Cup. Both those plans however had to be shelved after resistance from multiple football stakeholders.
Referencing the nation’s performance at last year’s World Cup in Qatar, Saudi Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal revelled in the prospect of his country welcoming the tournament.
In a statement, he said: “Many fans will have recently witnessed our ability as a nation to compete at the highest possible level on the pitch. Now we have the chance to prove we are also world-class hosts off it. We look forward to showcasing our genuine love of the game and our desire to be a force for good.
“Today is another important step forward on our journey of transformation in football and as a country and I trust all involved will see for themselves the undeniable progress being made at many different levels.
“We host international sports for the simple reason that we truly believe in the power of sport to inspire our boys and girls, to create new connections and build new relationships.
Saudi Arabia has increasingly used sports and in particular football as an image-building tool to position themselves on the world stage. FIFA’s pivot to Riyadh after Qatar was predictable, but the fact that no questions were asked at the Council over the proposal to stage the tournament in Saudi Arabia is telling of how Infantino leads FIFA and the direction he is taking the game.
Saudi Arabia will also host the AFC’s 2027 Asian Cup. The Kingdom has active bids for the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup as well as for the biggest prize of all, the 2030 World Cup alongside Egypt and Greece.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1713602693labto1713602693ofdlr1713602693owedi1713602693sni@i1713602693tnuk.1713602693ardni1713602693mas1713602693