May 8 – Saudi Arabia has given yet another giant hint that it is backing the joint bid of United States, Canada and Mexico to stage the 2026 World Cup as the tournament increasingly becomes a political combat zone in the Gulf region.
The question is, how many neighbouring Asian countries will follow suit?
The United 2026 co-chairmen were speaking in Brussels today having arrived from Dubai after meeting with the Bahrain and Oman Football Associations. Prior to Dubai, the United Bid Team was in Asia for the Southeast Asia Football Federation’s Suzuki Cup draw.
With Qatar having already stated it is supporting Morocco, Saudi sports authority chief Turki al-Sheikh, an advisor to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has made it clear that Saudi Arabia will vote according to its best interests – and that means tapping into political alliances, not least with the United States.
In an interview with CNN, Al Sheikh commented: “We are working for the sake of Saudi Arabia. We have not yet adopted a position but the interests of Saudi Arabia prevail. The United States are among our most powerful allies, and we are theirs in the Middle East.”
Significantly, last summer the Saudis, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt cut diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting Islamist extremists.
Like the Saudis, both the UAE and Bahrain are members of the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) and therefore seem likely to back United 2026.
But with WAFF also comprising Qatar, geo-political factions and pacts seem likely to play a key role with the other Waff members – Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Iran, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman and Yemen – yet to indicate which way they will vote.
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