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FIFA Club World Cup 2023 will be held in Jeddah: SAFF, FIFA
The FIFA Club World Cup 2023 football tournament will take place in Jeddah, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) and FIFA said in a joint statement on Monday.
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The tournament runs from December 12 to 22, and will be held in the Kingdom for the first time.
SAFF announced in February that the competition would be held in the Kingdom, and officials settled on Jeddah as the final location after a FIFA delegation visited to assess preparations.
“We are delighted that Jeddah, with its state-of-the-art facilities and reputation for hosting major international sports events, has been selected as host city for the FIFA Club World Cup,” said Yasser al-Misehal, SAFF President, in the statement.
“Sport is a key driver of Saudi Arabia’s ongoing transformation under Vision 2030, which has established the Kingdom as one of the fastest growing and most exciting countries in world sport.”
The FIFA delegation visit included detailed inspections of key infrastructure including the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium and the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium, as well as the proposed training and accommodation facilities.
SAFF has qualified for six FIFA World Cup tournaments, winning the U-23 AFC Asian Cup (men), successfully establishing a women’s national team that is now FIFA ranked, and launching a U-17 women’s national team.
At grassroots level, SAFF has opened 28 regional training centers to nurture young Saudi talent and has registered 5,500 coaches, of which 1,000 are women, up from 750 in total in 2018.
The number of male registered players has risen by 58 percent since 2021, while the number of registered female players has increased by 86 percent in the same period.
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