The world's biggest oil exporter Saudi Arabia is considering to make a joint bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup along with Egypt and Greece, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing the kingdom's Tourism Minister Ahmed Al Khateeb.

“We are considering a bid with Greece and Egypt and we wish that it will be a winning bid,” Bloomberg quoted Al Khateeb as saying in an interview in Riyadh. “Definitely the three countries would invest heavily in infrastructure and would definitely be ready. And I know by then Saudi Arabia would have state of the art stadiums and fanzones built,” the report quoted the minister as saying.

In an interview with BBC on Sunday, Saudi Arabia’s Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal said that the kingdom would be interested to hold a future World Cup as it is pursuing initiatives to diversify from its oil economy.

“Why not? Who wouldn’t want to host the World Cup? We host a lot of events in the region,” Prince Abdul Aziz said in an interview with BBC.

While Egypt and Greece have not confirmed plans for a joint bidding, media reports suggest that the bid would go up against a joint bid from Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Paraguay, as well as one from Spain and Portugal.

The 2026 edition of the FIFA World Cup will be held in the US, Canada and Mexico, marking the first time the tournament will be shared by three countries.

Saudi Arabia has already won a bid to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games at a planned mountain resort in the Gulf Arab state's $500 billion flagship NEOM project.

The oil-rich kingdom is aggressively ramping up its infrastructure in its ambitions to diversify its economy, foster tourism and to become a hub for destination travel.

On Monday, Crown Prince, Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz unveiled the masterplan for a new airport, King Salman International Airport, to boost Riyadh’s position as a global logistics hub, stimulate transport, trade and tourism and act as a bridge linking east to west.

(Writing by Seban Scaria; editing by Anoop Menon)

(seban.scaria@lseg.com)