Saudi Arabia scores with Fifa assist as SE Asia misses chance

This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 13, 2023 – November 19, 2023

Hopes were not high when Malaysia was mentioned last month in a joint Indonesia-Australia led bid to host the 2034 Fifa World Cup. Singapore and Thailand were also discussed as possible junior partners. But when first Indonesia, and then Australia, pulled out to leave Saudi Arabia as the sole bidder, it was seen as bowing to the inevitable. Still, it was hard not to sense a rare chance had been wasted by Southeast Asia.

The next time this region gets a shot at playing host will be in the 2040s, a date so distant that many of the participants are still to be born. Yet a bid at this time — it was Asia’s turn on the roster — might have been able to capitalise on any global backlash to the grasping hand of Riyadh.

Simon Chadwick, professor of Sport and Geopolitical Economy at…