Saudi football governance central to World Cup triumph plan, says former official

Former Saudi Arabian Football Federation secretary general Faisal Al-Abdulhadi has outlined the changes he believes are needed for the Saudi Arabia national team to win the FIFA World Cup for the first time, targeting the 2046 tournament.

Saudi Arabia have appeared at the World Cup seven times. Their best performance came at their first finals in 1994, when they reached the last 16, but they have not repeated that achievement since.

Speaking to Thmanyah, Al-Abdulhadi said significant structural issues within Saudi football would need to be addressed if the national team were to challenge for the title. In his remarks, he referred to winning the World Cup in 1946.

“First, the obstacles present in football generally must be removed, most importantly identifying who controls Saudi football,” he said.

Al-Abdulhadi said the General Assembly of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation holds that authority, but suggested its effectiveness depends on the strength of its members and its relationship with the board.

“The members of the General Assembly are the ones who control Saudi football,” he said. “If the General Assembly is weak, the board of directors can control matters as it wishes.”

He added: “Likewise, if the General Assembly is strong, its outcome will be strong.”

Al-Abdulhadi said the assembly is made up of representatives from clubs, national coaches, referees and the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee. However, he argued that the process for selecting those representatives was not sufficiently rigorous.

“The General Assembly comes from the clubs, representatives of national coaches, referees and the Olympic committee,” he said. “But the problem is that these members are not selected in the best possible way.”

Saudi Arabia will host the FIFA World Cup in 2034. It will be the third Arab country to stage the finals, following Qatar in 2022 and Morocco, alongside Spain and Portugal, in 2030.

The 2034 tournament will therefore give Saudi Arabia the opportunity to compete at a World Cup on home soil before the longer-term target identified by its former football official.