India should aim to get hold of a few matches in Saudi Arabia-hosted 2034 FIFA World Cup, AIFF says

New Delhi: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is mulling a plan to host a few matches of the 2034 FIFA World Cup, set to be held in Saudi Arabia, according to an internal circular of the national sports body. Last month, FIFA, the world governing body of football, had confirmed following the 31 October deadline that Saudi Arabia was the sole bidder for the 2034 World Cup. An Emergency Congress of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held on 18 October had supported Saudi Arabia’s bid. India had also supported the move. It is learnt that AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey told the executive committee members that India should think of hosting a few matches of the 2034 World Cup. The 48-team 2034 World Cup will have 104 matches and the idea could be that a few of them — around 10 matches — could be held in India. “The president informed the house that India should think or plan to work towards being a co-host for the World Cup in 2034,” the draft minutes of the AIFF Executive Committee held on 9 November said. The FIFA had restricted the hosting eligibility of the 2034 World Cup to Asia or Oceania after it made the decision to host the 2030 edition on three continents (Africa, Europe and South America). Saudi Arabia is also hosting the AFC Asian Cup in 2027 after India backed out of a bid to host the continental showpiece.