“Saudi Arabia is extremely aggressive in the sports market”
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The 2034 FIFA World Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia. Due to the fact that this country has no competitors left, this can be discussed long before the official FIFA announcement, the media write. At the last moment, the only country that could compete with Saudi Arabia, Australia, withdrew its bid to host the World Cup. For details, see Kommersant FM sports commentator Vladimir Osipov.
In our recent wonderful football past, several large countries always fought for the right to host the World Cup. Remember how Russia and Qatar were accused of actually buying this opportunity? Naturally, no one could prove anything, but there were even investigations. As a result, the world received two magnificently organized tournaments. Moreover, Qatar spent $220 billion on hosting the World Cup – about 15 times more than the Russian Federation.
After such an application, the fires of ambition in the Middle East flared with renewed vigor. Representatives of Saudi Arabia began to make statements that they were ready to spend even more on the event, and significantly. Representatives of FIFA, who, as we know, unselfishly love money, of course, could not ignore such desires. And at the last moment, one of the countries technically refuses to participate in the fight.
Moreover, he does this the day before the deadline, because the acceptance of applications ends on October 31. And voila, as the French say, there is only one contender left on the board – Saudi Arabia. Football manager Yuri Belous is sure that none of the officials will understand what happened: “Firstly, this is not profitable for FIFA. Secondly, you understand that Saudi Arabia will financially surpass almost any country today.”
Given that the staggering investment in the championship will never pay off, many in Europe are skeptical about holding another tournament in the Middle East.
Football agent Dmitry Selyuk, who lives and works in Spain, speaks ironically about Saudi Arabia’s sporting ambitions: “The Arab world likes horse racing. In the context of football, they consider, figuratively speaking, the same Ronaldo as a certain horse. The sheikhs are having fun, that’s all.”
But irony is irony, and Saudi Arabia behaves extremely aggressively in the sports market, trying to buy up everything it can get its hands on. Recently, the country’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the following: “If sports shows increase my budget by 1%, we will continue to play sports.” And, judging by the salaries that the sheikhs offered to the star players led by Cristiano Ronaldo, they are definitely not skimping.
And no one expects a financial return from the 2034 World Cup, football manager Yuri Belous is sure: “This is not a business project, but a reputational story for Saudi Arabia. They don’t need money. The arrival of stars such as Benzema, Ronaldo is a reputational moment, the same is true for the World Cup. The World Cup is a very important story for the Saudis.”
True, the preparations for the World Cup in Saudi Arabia will definitely not happen without scandals. The example of Qatar, where even people died during the construction of sports arenas, is a clear confirmation of this. But the $300 billion that the future hostess of the World Cup is ready to invest in football is a serious enough amount to not pay attention to such trifles.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
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