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Images of a proposed stadium for the 2034 FIFA World Cup have been released - and the design is unlike anything fans have seen before.
The tournament is set to be hosted in Saudi Arabia after the Gulf nation went unopposed in their bid for the event.
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Now, a digitally-created version of plans for what would be the tournament’s centre-piece stadium has been released.
And it is something not even Qatar’s arenas could match at the 2022 World Cup.
Designed by Populous, the large stadium is named ‘King Salman Stadium’.
It has a proposed capacity of 92,000 people.
By comparison, the largest stadium at Qatar 2022 was the Lusail Stadium, which hosted 88,966 people for the World Cup final between Argentina and France.
King Salman may also host the opening ceremony, as well as the final, if the Saudis go ahead with plans to build this majestic arena.
The pictures show a circle shaped arena, with the structure over the stands divided into segments.
Shown in the night time, the lights of the stadium are seen flowing through the gaps in the design.
These gaps go out to the roads leading to ground, which are also lit up.
The arena, as well as the space around it, is all pictured to be luscious and green. That's despite half of Saudi Arabia famously being desert.
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Only 0.5 per cent of the West Asian country is forest.
However, the Royal Commission for Riyadh City is working on ‘re-greening’ the urban and suburban environments.
When 2034 rolls around and Saudi Arabia host the World Cup, it will be played in 15 stadiums.
Eleven of those will be new and eight of them will be in Riyadh.
talkSPORT’s Saudi Arabia football correspondent Ben Jacobs spoke to the Assistant Deputy Minister for Strategic Planning and Investment at the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Sport, Hammad Albalawi, about their bid.
A big topic at Qatar 2022 was alcohol being banned, with FIFA changing its policy two days before the tournament began.
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Quizzed on whether this will be the case in Saudi Arabia - a country which bans alcohol - Albalawi said: “We have true passion for the game, true love for the game.
“We have true interest for this game. So, I respect fans that want to have alcohol. They can have this in many countries.
“But for Saudi Arabia, they come for other reasons. Those reasons are equally important I hope. For us, it’ll give us the opportunity to show our culture, our food, our art, our hospitality, and that’s what’s exciting for us.
“Today we have a beautiful country. We have many things for people to discover. We do this and we receive many guests from around the world.”
The deadline to submit a bid to host the 2034 World Cup was in October 2023.
It was restricted to only Asia and Oceania after FIFA chose to have the 2030 edition in three continents - Africa, Europe and South America, and the 2026 World Cup in North America.
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Saudi Arabia is investing in more and more sports, including boxing and golf. Critics of their lone World Cup bid - including Amnesty International - have taken issue with the bidding process being fast tracked.
FIFA unexpectedly shortened the length of time for interested nations to express their intent to host to 25 days. Within minutes, Saudi Arabia announced its intentions to host, as per The Times.
Australia pulled out of the race after Saudi Arabia had secured the support of more than 100 FIFA members, including the Asian Football Confederation.
The AFC did this despite the fact that Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia were in talks over a rival joint bid.
A FIFA congress will confirm the hosts later this year.
“The football calendar has been decided up until 2030,” Albalawi said. “Beyond that, that’s a conversation between FIFA and the federations and the leagues.
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“If awarded the right to host the tournament, it’ll be a conversation we welcome, and are welcome to being a part of, to deliver the tournament at the most appropriate time.
“But the bottom line, is we are ready. We’re ready for the world, we’re ready to host at any time.”
There were a number of controversies involved in the 2022 World Cup, with the tournament being held at the unprecedented time of November and December due to the boiling heats in Qatar during summer being one.
More notably, there were issues regarding human rights violations, including conditions for migrant workers, which led to deaths caused by extreme working conditions and working without pay, and women’s rights in the country.
Homosexuality and LGBT rights are also criminalised in the country.
Saudi Arabia has the same stance on homosexuality.
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According to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, Saudi women are still discriminated against in marriage and divorce despite the reforms, and the Saudi government continues to target and repress women's rights activists and movements.
Feminist campaigns include the Women to Drive Movement and the anti male-guardianship campaign, which have led to significant advances in women's rights.
Asked if everyone will be welcome at the tournament if it’s hosted in Saudi Arabia, Albalawi said: “I go back to the start of our current journey in 2016, with the launch of our vision.
“It has created so many topics, so many achievements in many areas. This is our reference point.
“I’ve already seen so many developments and achievements in different areas.
“You talked about the LGBTQ+ community, we have received 27 million tourists last year.
“We have over 100 international sports events attended by three million sports fans.
“These fans entered the country, we respect the law of privacy, they have enjoyed their time, and they come and visit again.
“This is the biggest learning, it’s for people to really understand Saudi Arabia. Come and visit and see what it feels like to be in our country.
“You will be respected and welcomed with open arms.”
