LONDON – Saudi Arabia’s vice-minister of sport has praised Qatar for its hosting of the 2022 World Cup and said that his country also wanted to experience it for itself as it bids to host the tournament in 2034.

Saudi Arabia is seeking to host the event after global football body Fifa invited bids earlier in October from Asia and Oceania, setting a deadline of Oct 31.

Qatar was the first country in the Middle East to host the World Cup and Saudi vice-minister of sport Bader Alkadi lauded the host nation despite strained diplomatic relations between the two Gulf states in recent years.

“Like the pride you had in the UK when you hosted the Olympics, like how proud we are about us beating Argentina at the World Cup... And Qatar – we’re proud of what other countries have done delivering an excellent World Cup,” Mr Alkadi said at the Leaders Week sports conference in London.

“Definitely we want to have this at home. And we want to ensure that we develop our country to host at a high standard at such events.”

When asked about the fan experience in Qatar which included no alcohol being served in stadiums for religious reasons, a decision made a week before the tournament began, he said that people had enjoyed a unique experience.

“And that’s something honestly we applaud our colleagues in Qatar for, for going through and definitely proving that it is a possibility (and it) is something that we would want to repeat,” he added.

The minister did not clarify if that meant allowing alcohol – which is banned in Saudi Arabia – to be served in fan zones and hotels, as was the case in Qatar.

The nation previously explored a tri-continental World Cup bid with Egypt and Greece, though that plan has been shelved and the focus is now all on Saudi Arabia alone.

While everything seems to be positive, critics have also accused the country of using its sovereign wealth fund to engage in “sportswashing” in the face of heavy criticism of its human rights record.

Saudi Arabia denies accusations of human rights abuses and says it protects its national security through its laws. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in September that he does not care about allegations of “sportswashing” and that he will continue funding sport if it adds to the country’s gross domestic product.

Mr Alkadi echoed the crown prince’s comments and explained that the vast investment in sport was to improve the lives of Saudi people, while the country diversifies its economy away from reliance on oil.

“Well, that would have been a difficult question (sportswashing) before the crown prince answered it. It’s not difficult any more. So definitely whatever we do in sports, we do it for our people,” he said.

“And the numbers speak for themselves in terms of the growth in mass participation in terms of the focus on elite athletes.”

It is looking likely that Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup as Indonesia’s football federation (PSSI) said on Wednesday it is backing its bid – a week after PSSI president Erick Thohir said his organisation was in talks with Australia about a possible joint bid for the event.

He also said that in the discussions with his Australian counterpart, there was mention of a bid that could also have included Malaysia and Singapore.

Fifa has announced that Spain, Morocco and Portugal would host the 2030 edition, with Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina staging the opening games.

The 2026 World Cup, which will be the first to feature 48 teams, will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. REUTERS, AFP