Saudi Arabia’s Sports Minister Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al-Faisal confirmed his interest in hosting the 2035 Rugby World Cup.
Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, will bid for the 2035 tournament.
Al Faisal told reporters for Saudi Arabia’s Formula 1 Grand Prix that the country is open to hosting tournaments and wants to develop sports at the domestic level.
“We’re interested in rugby. We’re interested in developing sports locally. So we can see what we can do to create a federation and develop sports,” he told reporters.
“I don’t think we have a level of hosting yet, but the ’35 World Cup is the first time in 10 years, so maybe it will grow in that direction, and we have a lot of interest in it, and why not?”
Saudi Arabia has a strong interest in a variety of sports, including soccer, boxing and Formula 1, but Al Faisal said he has no solid plans to invest heavily in rugby on a global scale.
“I think our main intention is to develop sports within the kingdom,” he said.
“And today we have around 97 coalitions. We are not going to host everything in 97 coalitions, but the reason we have 97 coalitions is because we want to promote sports.
“Even the smallest sports that may not be of much interest to a small number of people join Saudi Arabia.
“At least someone can play that sport in the kingdom. That’s the idea of development. Some will grow into a larger region and grow into a larger participation.”
– Women’s Six Nations Round 4 Best Moment
– Women’s Six Nations Full Fixture List
– Men’s Six Nations Grade: England gets. Ireland needs a transition