Saudi Arabia ‘open to hosting’ 2035 rugby show

Article posted by Coliseum, April 29^th, 2025

Image: Coliseum GSVA

The Saudi Arabian Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal has confirmed the country (Saudi Arabia) would be interested in hosting the 2035 Rugby World Cup.

‘ESPN’ stated that Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar, are reportedly set to bid for the 2035 tournament.

The 2035 Rugby World Cup is an upcoming quadrennial international rugby union competition scheduled to take place in 2035. It is the sport’s premier international tournament contested by the Men’s national teams of World Rugby member unions.

Dublin (Ireland)-based the World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby organizes the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport’s most recognized and most profitable competition.

‘ESPN’ further stated that Al-Faisal told newsmen at the Saudi Arabian Formula 1 Grand Prix event held recently that the country is open to hosting the tournament and wants to develop the sport at a domestic level – “We’re interested in rugby, we’re interested in developing the sport locally. So, we created the federation and so on to see what we can do to develop the sport. I don’t think we’re on the level of hosting yet but the 2035 World Cup is in 10 years, so maybe it grows in that direction, and we see a big interest in that, then why not?”

While Saudi Arabia has taken a strong interest in a range of sports including football, boxing and Formula 1, Al-Faisal said there are no firm plans to invest heavily in rugby on a global scale – “I think our main intention is to develop the sports within the Kingdom. And then today we have roughly 97 federations. We’re not going to host everything with 97 federations but why do we have 97 federations is because we want to promote sports. Even the smallest sports that maybe a small number of people participate in Saudi or there isn’t that big of an interest. At least someone can play that sport in the Kingdom and that’s the idea of developing. I’m sure some will grow into bigger areas and develop into bigger participation and so on.”

London (UK)-based the Formula One is the highest class of international racing for the open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).

Paris (France)-based the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) is an international organization with two primary functions surrounding use of the automobile. Its mobility division advocates the interests of the motoring organizations, the automotive industry and the motor car users in the fields of road safety and traffic circulation.

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