Late last month, amid the Olympic Games in France, a Saudi government delegation embarked on a trip to Paris. The group’s task was to deliver a formal bid by the Kingdom to stage the 2034 FIFA men’s World Cup. Riyadh’s prospects of winning hosting rights are strong, partly as it is the only bidder so far for the tournament.

If Saudi Arabia bags the second largest sport mega event in the world, attention will turn to a separate prospective bid for the 2036 Olympics. As such, it can reasonably be assumed that the government delegation’s July 31 visit to Paris also featured efforts to sway the International Olympic Committee (IOC) into agreeing that...