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Saudi Arabia has abandoned its aspirations to host the 2035 Rugby World Cup as a result of the Public Investment Fund’s new financial strategy.
The sports minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Faisal, confirmed Saudi’s interest in bidding for the tournament last year, but the Guardian has learned that the kingdom has not submitted an expression of interest to World Rugby and has no plans to do so before the bidding process closes in October. The president of Asia Rugby, Qais al-Dhalai, also talked up a joint Middle East bid from Saudi, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates last year, but that has not materialised either.
World Rugby’s bidding process for the 2035 tournament opened last October, with Argentina, Japan and Spain among the countries understood to have submitted initial expressions of interest. The deadline for submitting a formal bid is not until October 2026 so Saudi and the other gulf countries still have time to reconsider, but there is no anticipation that they will do so.
