Mark Alexander will advise SA Rugby not to bid for Rugby World Cup tournaments because the country’s economy is not strong enough.

With unsuccessful hosting bids in 20211, 2015, 2019 and 2023, the only RWC ever hosted on South African soil remains the famous 1995 showpiece. 

And with Australia and the USA hosting the 2027 and 2031 World Cups respectively, recent reports suggested that South Africa would enter the bidding war with Spain and three Middle Eastern countries for the right to host the 2035 event.

This news was amplified by deputy minister of sport, art and culture Peace Mabe, who told IOL that the government would support a bid to host the Rugby World Cup if corporate stakeholders came on board to make it financially viable.

However, Alexander has poured cold water on the idea when he told the Sunday Times the country couldn’t afford to bid for either the 2035 or 2039 Rugby World Cup tournaments because the economy is not strong enough.

“Sure there is an economic impact and the last time we put together a bid for the 2023 tournament it was R6.8-billion. However, government has to provide a lot of support by way of infrastructure and security. There is also the financial guarantee that has to be provided up front.”

South Africa provided World Rugby with a guarantee of R4-billion when bidding for the 2023 World Cup.

SA Rugby would also have to spend millions of rands to upgrade stadiums.

“We know some stadiums have not been maintained properly,” said Alexander. “It just brings so many other challenges to the country. People think it is just a sports event but so many other things have to be activated.

“I will tell Saru (SA Rugby) not to do this. There’s other stuff more urgent than the World Cup. We are a third-world country. Our economy is not strong and we have to act responsibly.

“I know our members would love to host the World Cup but for now and all the challenges we have, we will be putting the country through undue pressure,” the SA Rugby boss explained.

I know sport does a lot for social cohesion but I think it would be unfair on government to put up guarantees. I think it will be unfair as a sport to put our country through that again.”

SHOULD SA RUGBY BID TO HOST THE RWC IN 2035 OR 2039?

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Src: TheSouthAfrican.com - https://rugga.co.za/springboks/sa-rugby-wont-bid-to-host-rwc-we-cant-afford-it/