Saudi Arabia to host 2023 FIFA Club World Cup

Share

Tweet

Share

Share

Email

Comments

The Fifa Club World Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia for the first time from December 12 to 22.

The announcement comes three days after Real Madrid won the competition in Morocco, defeating Al-Hilal, the first Saudi team to go to the championship match, 5-3 in a thrilling victory.

Saudi Arabia will be the competition’s sixth host since its start in 2000.

According to the nation’s sports minister, holding the competition demonstrated “our desire to be a force for good.”

Saudi Arabia has made significant investments in athletic events recently, but it has come under fire for allegedly utilizing these occasions to “sportswash” its image.

Organizations like Amnesty International and Reprieve have criticized the nation for its record on human rights.

HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal said: “We are honoured and extremely excited to be given the opportunity to welcome the world’s leading football clubs and their fans to Saudi Arabia.

“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.

“This 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.”

---

Fifa plans to change the format of the Club World Cup from June 2025 to feature 32 teams and be held every four years – with 12 teams from Europe involved.

Saudi Arabia are also reportedly planning a joint bid with Greece and Egypt to host the 2030 Fifa World Cup.

At the World Cup in Qatar last year, Saudi Arabia shocked eventual winners Argentina in their opening game but failed to make it out of the group.

Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo joined Saudi side Al Nassr in December.

*****

Copyright 2021 @ The Athletic NG. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to https://www.theathletic.com.ng/ as the source.