Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar are reportedly planning to bid for hosting rights for either the 2035 or 2039 Rugby World Cup (RWC).
The Times publication reported the trio has the support of their continental federation, Asia Rugby, which is keen on staging another men’s RWC, following the success of the 2019 edition in Japan.
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A multi-host RWC in the Middle East would feature teams who have never qualified for the event before – none of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, or Qatar have ever appeared at the top-tier rugby union tournament before.
Therefore, governing body World Rugby would almost certainly have to change its own rules on which countries are eligible to take part in a World Cup – currently, all nations have to qualify on merit, including the host/s.
There would also likely need to be a change in the time of year the tournament would take place – with the Gulf’s September and October temperatures (the point at which an RWC is usually held) much too hot. The organizing nations will reportedly push for the event to run in December and January.
Aside from the logistics of holding the RWC in the middle of the Northern Hemisphere season, there would also be multiple accusations that the tournament would be a sportswashing exercise for the Gulf governments, who have regularly been accused of a range of human rights abuses.
However, none of this has stopped most other mainstream global sports – soccer, golf, and boxing among them – from engaging with the lucrative opportunities that the Gulf nations have to offer.
Indeed, the 2028 edition of the new-look Nations Cup rugby union finals is already set to take place in Doha, Qatar.
Across the sport as a whole, meanwhile, prominent sponsors from the region include Qatar Airways, and Emirates.
The bidding process for the 2035 RWC is set to start in the next couple of years, with Italy and Spain separately engaged in lobbying for bid support.
The president of Asia Rugby, Qais Al Dhalai, has been quoted by The Times as saying: “As our leaders in the Gulf believe, nothing is impossible. I foresee this as something that might happen in 2035.
“A multi-host could be a successful story and a new model for rugby. UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Why not? The stadiums are ready there. It will be the most successful event in the history of rugby.”
He added: "I’m in favor of a multi-city hosting model, not a single host. That’s proven to work in soccer.”
In terms of the next few editions of both the men’s and women's World Cups, Australia will host the 2027 men’s tournament and the women’s 2029 edition, while the US will stage the men’s 2031 RWC and the women’s tournament in 2033.
Currently, in terms of the World Rugby men’s team rankings, the UAE sits at 48th and Qatar at 87th, while Saudi Arabia only played their first official test match in 2016.
