Fresh twist in Saudi Arabia’s bid to host 2035 Rugby World Cup – report
Saudi Arabia's sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Faisal (inset) and the Webb Ellis Cup.
A change in Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) financial strategy has reportedly resulted in the country abandoning its plan to host the 2035 Rugby World Cup.
Last year, Saudi Arabia’s sports minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Faisal, revealed that his nation – which will host the 2034 FIFA World Cup – were seriously considering a bid to bring rugby’s global showpiece to the Middle East for the first time.
However, according to a report in the Guardian, the Saudis failed to submit an expression of interest to host the 2035 Rugby World Cup to World Rugby and has no plans to do so before the bidding process closes in October.
Joint 2035 Rugby World Cup plans also abandoned
Asia Rugby president Qais al-Dhalai has also been plugging the possibility of a joint 2035 Rugby World Cup between Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates but that option has also fizzled out.
World Rugby’s bidding process for the 2035 global showpiece opened in October 2025, with the likes of Argentina, Japan and Spain among the countries understood to have submitted initial expressions of interest.
Although the deadline for submitting a formal bid is only in October this year, Saudi Arabia and their neighbouring countries are not expected to do that.
World Rugby are set to identify the bids and will conduct site visits before a preferred bidder will be identified in May 2027 and the global game’s governing body will then make a formal appointment the following autumn.
An official announcement of the 2035 tournament hosts is expected to be coincide with next year’s Rugby World Cup in Australia.
Saudi Arabia sports minister makes bold claim as multi-host 2035 Rugby World Cup bid considered
Saudi Arabia’s decision to hold back on its rugby aspirations forms part of what has been described as the PIF’s “value realization” phase of its Vision 2030 economic plan published earlier this week.
The economic uncertainty caused by the war in Iran is expected to influence the PIF’s spending plans, although the decision to abandon Saudi Arabia’s 2035 Rugby World Cup bid is understood to have been taken before the conflict began at the end of February.
The PIF’s governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, – who is also chairman of Newcastle United Football Club – confirmed they were reviewing “some deals and investments”.
“I can’t tell you I will cancel this investment or get into another investment,” Rumayyan said in an interview with the state-owned television channel Al Arabiya.
‘The war would add more pressure’
“It is a dynamic [situation] with or without war. But, of course, the war would add more pressure to reposition some priorities.”
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LIV Golf is set to be the highest-profile casualty of PIF’s insistence on prioritising projects that can produce a return.
The rebel golf tour’s funding will come to and end next year and that will mean the sides will require substantial private investment for the league to continue.
The PIF will continue to invest in sport but are set to focus on domestic projects, such as infrastructure related to the 2034 football World Cup and the Formula One track near Riyadh, which is due to open in 2027.
Qatar’s rugby interest is more advanced as that nation will host the second final series of the new Nations Championship in 2028, with the first event to be held at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham this autumn.
Unlike Saudi Arabia, Qatar already have all the stadiums and infrastructure in place that is required to host global events, but the nation’s current focus is on bidding for the 2036 Olympics.