The Scoop
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is preparing to inform organizers of the 2034 men’s soccer World Cup that it plans to drop five new stadiums it proposed to build to host the tournament, according to people familiar with the matter.
Public Investment Fund will likely narrow its focus to three new stadiums as it cuts spending on some of its signature domestic investments, the people said. Dropping the five venues would leave the kingdom with 10 stadiums for World Cup matches. The changes are part of a revised plan the kingdom is preparing to submit to FIFA, the tournament’s organizers, the people said.
PIF is looking to drop plans to develop stadiums in King Abdullah Economic City and Qiddiya Coast, both near Jeddah; Roshn and New Murabba in Riyadh; and NEOM, in the kingdom’s northwest. Several of the cancelled stadiums are attached to broader real estate projects that have been halted or where work has slowed.
Saudi Arabian officials are still working on the updated proposals and the plans could change, the people said. PIF and the Saudi Ministry of Sport didn’t respond to requests for comment.
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Reuters earlier reported on the cancellation of the NEOM stadium, which was envisaged as being on the roof of The Line, a 500-meter-tall skyscraper. Work on The Line has effectively ground to a halt, and NEOM has not allocated any funding for the project until after at least 2030, Semafor previously reported.
Saudi Arabia had also proposed a 45,000-seat stadium at Qiddiya Coast, a planned entertainment and tourism destination north of Jeddah. That development has also been put on hold. Another 45,000-capacity stadium in Riyadh’s New Murabba district is also set to be dropped. Work on the wider development has slowed after the departure of Chief Executive Michael Dyke and the suspension of work on the project’s centerpiece, a 400-meter-tall, cube-shaped skyscraper with screens lining its interior, similar to The Sphere concert venue in Las Vegas.
The kingdom is still proceeding with plans for other new stadiums including one in Dhahran being developed by Saudi Aramco, and the King Salman International Stadium and Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium in Riyadh.
The cuts could leave Saudi Arabia developing just six new stadiums and refurbishing four existing ones for the World Cup. Four of the stadiums it plans to use in 2034 are also due to host matches for the 2027 Asian Cup, which starts in January.
The outlook for that contest going ahead in Saudi Arabia has been thrown into doubt by the kingdom’s involvement in the war in Yemen against Houthi militias. The group has launched multiple attacks against Saudi cities in recent weeks, shutting down the capital’s airport and killing at least 18 and injuring hundreds.
Qatar also previously dropped four of the stadiums it had planned to build for the 2022 World Cup as it got closer to the tournament.
Notable
- Saudi Arabia shelved plans for a World Cup stadium at the futuristic city of NEOM, Reuters reported earlier this month