Neom Halt Exposes Cracks in 2034 World Cup: FIFA's 'Exclusive' Bidding and Wartime Saudi Arabia's Trade-offs

Saudi Arabia's most iconic venue project for the 2034 World Cup — the NEOM Stadium, located in the 'linear city' NEOM and planned to hang 350 meters above the ground — has reportedly been shelved and will no longer be built for the tournament, according to Reuters. Under bidding documents, the stadium was supposed to host key matches such as quarterfinals, and would feature 'stunning views with the city itself forming the roof.'

This move is not an isolated incident. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has withdrawn funding this year from LIV Golf, snooker, tennis, rugby and a number of other events, and has pulled out of plans to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games in NEOM. PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan said earlier this year that PIF is 'reassessing priorities,' partly because of regional war. NEOM as a whole has been repositioned as a Red Sea industrial hub.

FIFA's 'no-competition' bidding process saddled the tournament from the very start with excessive fragility. According to DW, FIFA President Gianni Infantino announced Saudi Arabia as the sole bidder for the 2034 World Cup on October 4, 2023 — an 'election' without competition. Three days later was October 7. Christian Coats Ulrichsen, a Middle East researcher at Rice University in the United States, described the timing to DW as follows: 'Within three days, the entire region was effectively plunged into war.' Since then, an Israel-U.S. war on Iran has erupted, and Yemeni Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia have continued unabated. FIFA never set any exit clauses or alternative plans in response to the deteriorating regional security environment.

F. Gregory Gause III, a Gulf affairs expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told DW that this represents a 'comprehensive reassessment of financial conditions' in Riyadh — tied both to pre-war oil prices and to the damage caused by the war itself, and that 'in the current more constrained environment, the retreat from sporting commitments is only part of the broader priority adjustment.' Ulrichsen added that the war 'has not only made economic rationalization more urgent, but has also accelerated the desire to rethink these projects — especially urgently so after the Strait of Hormuz was effectively blockaded.'

This picture bears direct similarity to Qatar's 2022 World Cup. Qatar originally planned to build 12 stadiums but ultimately opened only 8. Ulrichsen said: 'We are now seeing exactly the same trajectory in Saudi Arabia.' Neither the Saudi World Cup organizing committee nor the Ministry of Sport responded to DW's inquiry on whether the 2034 tournament will feature fewer than the originally planned 15 stadiums. Whether venues close to the eastern coast and across the Persian Gulf from Iran — such as Al Khobar and Al Ahsa — will be reassessed in light of political developments remains uncertain. Ulrichsen warned that 'the context in which this entire tournament takes place is fraught with considerable uncertainty and genuine tensions.'

Even with compressed investment, Saudi Arabia's commitment to the World Cup itself is unlikely to waver entirely. Gause III believes: 'This is still the most important event in the world, and the Saudis have to at least match, no, rather surpass, what Qatar previously delivered.' Ulrichsen also pointed out that although relations between the two countries have eased somewhat due to a 2021 agreement, they remain regional rivals, which will drive the 2034 host to continue investing.

Saudi Arabia successfully hosted the Gulf Cup final, which can accommodate 60,000 spectators, this week, and will also host the Asian Cup in January next year. Ulrichsen considers this 'an early test of hosting a multi-week major tournament under current conditions.' Nearly eight years remain until the 2034 World Cup — enough time for a war to continue, and enough time for oil prices and finances to be reorganized again.