‘Large appetite’ for rugby as Middle East plot a bid to host the World Cup – planetrugby.com

Rugby Asia President Qais Al-Dhalai has revealed plans to take the World Cup to the Middle East.
Rugby Asia President Qais Al-Dhalai has revealed plans for three Gulf Nations and Japan to host the 2035 Rugby World Cup.
Japan became the first Asian country to host the Rugby World Cup in 2019 and Al-Dhalai says that after the ‘great job’ Qatar did hosting the FIFA World Cup, the Middle East country could take on rugby’s showpiece event.
According to reports, the final of the 2028 Nations Cup could be hosted in Qatar with the country attracting some of the biggest sporting events to the dessert including golf, Formula One and boxing.
Al-Dhalai says that there is a growing appetite for rugby in the Middle East and believes that if World Rugby’s showpiece event were to be hosted by Qatar, it would be “an amazing event.”
He also name-dropped Japan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia as potential designations for the tournament.
“The Middle East is witnessing a large appetite for different sports and now we are witnessing a lot for rugby,” the Asia Rugby President told Mail Sport.
“I would like to see the Rugby World Cup coming back to Asia in 2035, whether that’s Japan, the UAE, Qatar or Saudi Arabia.
“‘It would be an amazing event. Everyone was pointing fingers on Qatar that they could not deliver a Fifa World Cup. You could watch two games on the same day; one at 5pm and one at 9pm. The Qataris did a great job in hosting this mega event, so why not rugby?”
Al-Dhalai believes that if the Middle East countries start to invest heavily into rugby, then the leagues will grow and it will become a new designation for players.
He used the plethora of players who have headed to Japan after the 2019 World Cup with the Japan Rugby League One tournament growing year-on-year.
“When the investment comes to the Middle East, talented players will start to come. This is the formula,” he added.
“Look at how it happened in Japan, after the Rugby World Cup in 2019, players from all over the world are going to play in League One. The same will happen in countries like UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia when the investment comes to these places.”
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Al-Dhalai also hit out World Rugby’s current voting system which heavily favours the traditional powerhouses. Unlike FIFA, not every nation’s vote is worth the same with the SANZAAR nations, the Six Nations and Japan making up 33 of the 52 votes.
“At the moment, rugby doesn’t seem to be truly global,” he said.
Adding: “Rugby is not football or athletics. Rugby is a very niche sport so it needs a new mindset and a revolutionary style of leadership to take it to the next level.
“If we keep doing business as we have for the last 20 years then don’t expect a change. The voting structure of World Rugby seems not fair to many regions.”
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