Watching the Indian National team at the FIFA World Cup has been a dream of every Indian football fan, while India qualifying for the FIFA World Cup might still be a thing in the distant future, AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey has hinted towards India co-hosting the 2034 FIFA World Cup.
India should think of hosting a few matches of the 2034 World Cup in Saudi: AIFF president to members
The AIFF (All India Football Federation) plans to host a few matches of the 2034 World Cup 2024 held in Saudi Arabia.
Last month, FIFA confirmed Saudi Arabia as the sole bidder for the FIFA World Cup 2034 hosting rights. An Emergency Congress of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held on October 18 had supported Saudi Arabia’s bid. India had also supported the move.
FIFA had restricted the hosting eligibility of the 2034 World Cup to Asia or Oceania after it decided to host the 2030 edition on three continents (Africa, Europe, and South America).
It is learned 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 2034 FIFA World Cup will have 48 teams participating and will consist of a total of 104 matches and the idea is that a few of them, around 10 matches can be played 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 November 9 said.
However, there is a small obstacle in the way. FIFA regulations dictate that co-hosts cannot be added to a bid after approval, only before. However, there is still hope that there could be a way that can be found around the rules to make India eligible to co-host a few games of the 2034 FIFA World Cup.
Can Co-India host the FIFA World Cup 2034?
There is no direct answer to this question, it all will come down to the verdict of FIFA and the Saudi Arabia Football Federation whether they accept India’s request to co-host a few games.
Will India qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2034 if they co-host it?
The host team automatically qualifies for the FIFA World Cup and they don’t have to play the qualifying matches. In the case of multiple host nations, all the host nations will automatically qualify for the World Cup.
So historically speaking, if India ends up as the co-host they can gain a direct qualification at the 2034 FIFA World Cup. However, India did not join the bid for the hosting rights so FIFA might not grant India the direct spot at the World Cup.
