Any thoughts of South Africa hosting the Rugby World Cup in the future may have to be banished, according to a prominent rugby boss.
The Springboks are officially the most successful side in the sport having won the global tournament on four occasions – one more than the All Blacks.
However, South Africa have only hosted the World Cup once – in 1995 – and are not in the conversation to do so again in the upcoming tournaments.
Australia and USA will host the next couple of men’s and women’s World Cups, while 2035 and 2039 is currently being debated, but South Africa are not one of the countries currently being mentioned.
Financially dwarfed
“I don’t think South Africa can compete financially to host the World Cup anymore,” a prominent rugby boss told Rapport.
“The World Cup is the only real revenue stream for World Rugby, so they will always go where the big money can be made.”
South Africa have consistently looked to take the World Cup back to the country following the success in 1995, but they have been overlooked by World Rugby.
That trend will continue over the next few tournaments with it being recently revealed that Spain emerging as a potential destination in 2035.
It has also been suggested that the Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar could prepare a joint bid for either 2035 or 2039.
“We took some big strategic decisions a few years ago to go men’s and women’s in Australia and the same in the US,” World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin told Sports Mail recently.
“And we’ve now go to think about the balance and whether we bring 2035 [men’s] and 2037 [women’s] back to Europe. It’s almost like a regional rotation.
“We’ve never had that discussion strategically in World Rugby before but that’s probably the way the discussion has got to go.”
Camp Nou and the Bernabeu
Part of the Spanish bid, which could be enticing for the global governing body, would potentially see matches take place at iconic football stadiums, including Barcelona’s Camp Nou, and Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu.
“The Spanish federation and Spanish government have had conversations with La Liga,” he said.
“When we’ve had tournaments before in England, there’s been that conversation about needing Tottenham to play two matches away in a row. It’s the same conversation with Spain.
“As we understand it it’s with La Liga about would they support and it seems to be the case.”
👀 READ MORE: Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE preparing for 2035 Rugby World Cup bid
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/south-africa-in-devastating-world-cup-blow-as-prominent-rugby-boss-delivers-fatal-news-over-hosting-chances
