Qais Al Dhalai: Rugby World Cup needs to evolve as a global show - the joint Gulf bid can deliver

Asia Rugby chief says next couple of years crucial in effort to drum up support for joint UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar bid

Qais Al Dhalai, president of Asia Rugby and vice president of of the UAE Rugby Federation, believes it is time for the Rugby World Cup to return to Asia. Victor Besa / The national

The next two years are crucial for the Gulf region in its bid to fulfil the lofty ambition of staging a future Rugby World Cup, either in 2035 or 2039, according to the head of Asia Rugby.

The region has already staged a number of top sporting events, including the Fifa World Cup, while major boxing title fights, Formula One grands prix and international cricket tournaments are near annual events.

Qais Al Dhalai boldly claimed that the Gulf is capable of staging “the most successful event in the history of rugby” and believes the time is right for rugby union's showpiece event to be held on these shores

The Emirati is the driving force preparing a joint bid from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to host the Rugby World Cup for only the second time in Asia, after Japan in 2019.

Al Dhalai, who is also vice president of the UAE Rugby Federation, believes it’s time for the quadrennial championship to return to the continent, spreading the sport beyond its traditional heartlands of Europe and the southern hemisphere and provide teams and fans with a new experience.

“The sport should travel around and I feel Western Asia and South America are two deserving host for the Rugby World Cup at some point of time,” Al Dhalai told The National after returning from a private meeting with World Rugby in Hong Kong last week.

“The Gulf joint bid [works] because of the infrastructure and the best facilities for an event of this calibre. Obviously there is a lot of work to be done, particularly over the next two years, if we want to be successful in our bid.

“People forget South America. Argentina is the fifth-ranked team in the world and they had Uruguay and Chile from that part of the world in the 2023 World Cup. And imagine, Chile went into that World Cup having beaten USA and Canada.”

UAE put up a brave fight in their Test against Germany at The Sevens in Dubai on Saturday, November 16, 2024. All images Pawan Singh / The National

UAE's Jack Stapley during the rugby Test against Germany at The Sevens in Dubai

UAE lost narrowly to Germany despite being reduced to 14 men early

UAE put up a vastly improved performance against Germany in Dubai

UAE showed tremendous fight against Germany at The Sevens

UAE said they were proud of the fight they showed in a 26-20 defeat to the higher-ranked Germany

UAE players greet their German counterparts after the match

With the next two World Cup hosts already decided – Australia will stage the 2027 event and the USA in 2031 – Al Dhalai believes the Middle East should be the next stop in 2035 or 2039.

“The Rugby World Cup needs to evolve as a global show, and I believe the joint bid by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar has the experience, expertise and the means of staging several world-class events should be considered,” he said.

“Qatar were hosts of the 2022 Fifa World Cup and they are bidding for the 2036 Olympics, while Saudi Arabia has successfully won the bid to stage the 2034 Fifa World Cup. The UAE is a hotspot for several world-class sporting events.

“They will have all those infrastructure and everything that you need to host a Rugby World Cup either in 2035 or 2039.”

For the bid to be successful, World Rugby would most likely need to change its rules on allowing UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to play at the World Cup as hosts. None of the three prospective hosts have ever participated at a Rugby World Cup. At 48, the UAE are the highest-ranked side of the three. Qatar are 87th while Saudi Arabia are unranked.

Every World Cup host has played at the Rugby World Cup since the first edition in 1987.

I’m in favour of co-hosting that allows fans to visit two or three match venues in different countries

Qais Al Dhalai

Al Dhalai is hoping to prepare a bid to impress all member nations.

“It’s too early to reveal many details as we are still in a very early stage but we’ll have a presentation bid prepared to befit our actions,” he added.

The Rugby World Cup has a history of joint hosts with Australia and New Zealand co-hosting the inaugural event in 1987 followed by France, England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland in the next edition.

“I’m in favour of co-hosting that allows fans to visit two or three match venues in different countries and a change of environment for the participating nations,” Al Dhalai added.

“So, we’ll seek the support of the world governing body for the sport and member countries to garner the support for this exciting project. Hopefully, we’ll achieve our objective.”