Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia plan to launch a joint bid to host the 2035 or 2039 Rugby World Cup, according to the president of the Asia Rugby confederation.
Asia Rugby will back any bid from the three countries in a bid to bring the tournament back to Asia for the first time since Japan 2019, with the Middle East preferred to other touted locations in Southeast and East Asia.
The organisation has urged World Rugby to be open-minded about bids from multiple hosts, while the sport’s governing body would also have to make rule changes to ensure the hosts, if successful with their bid, would be able to participate as none have previously qualified for the competition.
“As our leaders in the Gulf believe, nothing is impossible,” Qais Al Dhalai, the president of Asia Rugby, told The Times. “I foresee this as something that might happen in 2035.
“I don’t want to underestimate other bids, and I believe South Africa and other European countries might be interested as well, but if World Rugby worked hard on this with a solid plan it might happen in 2035.
“I’m in favour of a multi-city hosting model, not a single host. That’s proven to work in soccer. They have done it since 2002 when Japan and Korea hosted, and are doing it again in Mexico, USA and Canada in 2026, and then again with Spain, Morocco and Portugal in 2030. Why not rugby?
“A multi-host could be a successful story and a new model for rugby. UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia. Why not? The stadiums are ready there. It will be the most successful event in the history of rugby.”
Should their bid be successful, the Gulf states would push for the World Cup to commence in December, with the final to be held in January, to avoid extreme heat temperatures.
This would then compel a re-structured rugby calendar, given the Northern Hemisphere Six Nations tournament, which is held between February and March, would be scheduled to begin about a month after the World Cup final.
Al Dhalai, who also serves as president of the UAE Rugby Federation, is bullish that a World Cup set in the Middle East would earn the sport huge revenue through both sponsorship deals and the backing of sovereign wealth funds. He cited successful ventures in other sports such as golf, tennis and soccer, as well as existing commercial relationships between Gulf-based companies and rugby as evidence.
“The big corporates and big money comes from the Gulf countries,” Al Dhalai is quoted as saying. “In 2022 Qatar Airways started to sponsor the United Rugby Championship. Who would imagine they would put money into rugby? It’s happening.
“Emirates Airlines are the global partner of World Rugby and the referees, and sponsor the Dubai sevens. Cathay Pacific sponsors the Hong Kong sevens. The moral is, there is big money in the Gulf area — whether sovereign funds or corporates.
“Asia Rugby has two votes of the 52 in World Rugby’s council. Our two votes will definitely go to the Asian bid.”
The bidding process for the 2035 Rugby World Cup is set to begin in the next two years, with Italy and Spain both putting themselves forward to stage the event. Australia will host the 2027 men’s World Cup and the women’s World Cup in 2029, before the US hosts both events in 2031 and 2033.
By SportsProMedia
