Stan Kroenke news as the Arsenal owner looks set to withdraw his SoFi Stadium from the list of arenas hosting the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke is set to continue his dispute with football’s governing body FIFA as the use of his SoFi Stadium in the 2026 World Cup comes under question.
The 76-year-old mogul owns the $4.5 billion (£3.7B) state-of-the-art venue which was originally set to become one of 16 stadiums used in the tournament hosted across the United States, Canada and Mexico after their joint bid.
But now Kroenke is threatening to withdraw the 70,000-seater stadium because
The matches scheduled to be played there aren’t of ‘significant heft’.
Arsenal issue with the Fifa continues
With the arena home to NFL teams the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers,
It was previously imagined to be in a three-horse race with the MetLife Stadium in New York
The AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas to host the final of the tournament,
But now might not be hosting games whatsoever.
That’s because the Arsenal owner believes that he’s set to actually lose money.
If group stage and early knockout stage matches held there.
Wants reassurance from FIFA that his stadium will be one to host the biggest match of all.
The venue itself needs no introduction to hosting big occasions, having already host Super Bowl LVI,
The College Football Play-Off Championship and even the CONCACAF Gold Cup final between Mexico and Panama earlier this year.
That previous experience at hosting football matches rather than its usual American football could be significant
As some believe that the costs to redesign the stadium in time for the tournament would prove too great for Kroenke.
For reference, the 2022 Qatar World Cup’s final kicked off at 6pm local time (3pm BST),
With a similar start time at the SoFi stadium translating to 2am BST and 3am for the rest of Europe.
Kroenke reportedly believes that the East Coast is a much more safer bet to host the final given the three-hour-less difference between them and the rest of the world.
