Last week, incoming Minister of Tourism and Sports, Sermsak Pongpanich, raised the possibility of Thailand bidding to host the World Cup. The new minister suggested the ambition as the country geared up to host the 74th FIFA Congress in Bangkok from May 13 to 17. Mr Sermsak suggested a bid in conjunction with other Southeast Asian nations. It comes with the hosts of the events already confirmed for 2026, 2030 and 2034. Previously, a 2019 initiative between Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries fell through in favour of Saudi Arabia, which secured the rights to the 2034 event last October.
Thailand’s new Minister of Tourism and Sports, Sermsak Pongpanich, has raised the possibility of a Thai bid to stage the World Cup in conjunction with other Southeast Asian nations.
The 78-year-old former Culture Minister, who switched roles with outgoing Tourism Minister Sudawan Wang-Suphakitkosol at the end of April, is brimming with ideas for the role.
Mr Sermsak told reporters this week that hosting the FIFA World Congress is a milestone for the kingdom. FIFA, or the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, is the governing body of world football (or soccer).
On Sunday, delegations flew in from all over the world to Bangkok. The congress will see 3,000 international visitors to Thailand. The event is drawing the leadership of world football.
Founded in 1904, FIFA has hundreds of member bodies representing all countries in the world. This includes six continental football organisations.
They include UEFA in Europe and CONMEBOL in South America. In addition, there is the Confederation of North, Central America, and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) representing North and Central America. The list also includes the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) for Africa, while Asia is represented by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
On Sunday, the president of that international body, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, flew into Bangkok.
The 74th FIFA Congress commenced on Monday, May 13th, and runs until Friday, May 17th. Meanwhile, the venue is the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in Bangkok. Significantly, Thailand will be playing host to 211 different international delegations.
At the same time, Sunday also saw the arrival of high-profile FIFA President Gianni Infantino. He expressed delight at being in Thailand. Mr Infantino, an Italian Swiss official, is the high-profile leader of FIFA after assuming the role from Sepp Blatter in 2016.
Indeed, Mr Blatter was forced out over rampant corruption claims. Afterwards, the FIFA organisation faced an ongoing corruption crisis.
In short, this saw criminal probes linked to its officials in the United States, Australia, France, Colombia, Costa Rica, Germany and Switzerland.
‘I am delighted to be back in Bangkok for the 74th FIFA Congress, and it will be a great opportunity to meet with friends, colleagues, football legends, and leaders from across the world,’ the international football boss wrote on social media. ‘Many thanks to the president of FA Thailand @panglamsam and her team for the warm welcome. I am looking forward to discussing our beautiful game with everyone here over the next week!’
Presently, the World Cup venues for 2026, 2030, and 2034 have already been decided.
The United States, Mexico, and Canada will host the event in two years’ time following Qatar in 2022.
After that, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco will stage the games. However, in that competition, three ‘celebratory’ games will be played on the continents of South America. These will take place in Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay.
Saudi Arabia clinched the race to hold the 2034 event in October 2023. The decision was announced by FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
At this point, Thailand would be hoping for a similar proposal in conjunction with other Southeast Asian nations bidding for 2038 or even 2042. There is some opinion that the next World Cup award should go to either Africa or Asia.
Mr Sermsak was speaking Wednesday last as he took up office at the Ministry of Tourism and Sports. He said that undoubtedly hosting the FIFA Congress this week would boost the kingdom’s credibility.
A bid to host the 2038 event would have to be prepared and lodged for a decision in 2030.
Meanwhile, in Bangkok on Friday, May 17th, the next location for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be decided.
It is a tussle between Brazil and a combined proposal from Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. The last venue was Australia and New Zealand.
Significantly, the Brazil bid has scored higher on evaluations to be presented to the meeting by FIFA.
Certainly, the goal for Thailand to be the host of a future World Cup is not pie in the sky.
This was confirmed this week by the Governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), Gongsak Yodmanee. He defined it as a key mission for his agency.
Nevertheless, it is a difficult challenge, and the process takes stupendous resources, skill and time. At the same time, it should be said, with very good reason.
Undeniably the World Cup is the biggest sports event on earth.
The viewership of the international competition reaches 5 billion people. In addition to this, the World Cup confers prestige on the host nation.
Similarly, Thailand with its international tourism industry in addition to the popularity of the game in the kingdom would gain exponentially.
In short, the hosting of the event in the country would have long-term benefits as well as short-term ones.
Of course, that is why it has long been a dream of Thai officials and sports bodies.
For instance, Mr Gongsak said that planning for such a bid has been in place since 2019, 5 years ago. The aim previously was the 2034 World Cup.
Several Southeast Asian nations, including Thailand, established a technical working group to make progress on the project. However, this dissolved in favour of the ultimately successful Saudi Arabian bid revealed last year.
In the meantime, tourism industry sources say this week’s event will generate ฿228 million in revenue and contribute ฿126 million to the economy. In effect, it will go towards creating 160 jobs in Thailand.
Undoubtedly, a World Cup event hosted in Thailand would be a massive boost for the kingdom. Nonetheless, it faces stiff competition in the world of international football. Indeed, it is a highly geared environment where money talks and raw power is at play.
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James Morris is a pename for an international writer based in Bangkok who works on various international news media. He is a sub editor with the Thai Examiner news website since it began in 2015. Son Nguyen is an international writer and news commentator specialising in Thai news and current affairs. He commenced working with the Thai Examiner News Desk in May 2018.
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