ARCHIVED - Morocco joins Spain and Portugal for World Cup 2030 bid
The winner of the 2030 World Cup bid will be announced in September next year
This Tuesday March 14, Morocco joined Spain and Portugal in their joint bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
The bid was originally just a Spanish bid, but this later became a joint Spanish-Portuguese bid and they were also joined last October by Ukraine. This latest announcement by Morocco raises further doubts over whether Ukraine will stay in the running.
A statement from the Confederation of African Football reads, “This joint bid, which is unprecedented in football history, will bring together Africa and Europe, the northern and southern Mediterranean, and the African, Arab and Euro-Mediterranean worlds. It will also bring out the best in all of us — in effect, a combination of genius, creativity, experience, and means.”
While Morocco’s candidacy makes more sense than Ukraine’s as the African nation is much closer geographically and more settled politically, it has not been a smooth road.
On November 19, 2018, Spanish President Pedro Sánchez made a public proposition to Morocco to participate alongside Spain to present a World Cup bid, but that enthusiasm gradually waned as diplomatic tensions between the two countries increased over such issues as immigration into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in Northern Africa; the treatment of military leader and possible genocide perpetrator Brahim Ghali in a Spanish hospital; and disagreements over the gas pipeline supplying energy between the two countries.
Now, though, tensions seem to have thawed and Morocco, which surprised everyone by knocking Spain out of the World Cup 2022 in Qatar and finishing in fourth place, seems ready to take its footballing prowess to the next level.
The winning bid for the hosts of the 2030 World Cup are expected to be picked in September 2024. Other countries bidding include co- favourites Uruguay-Argentina-Chile-Paraguay; and a bid led by Saudi Arabia that will span an unprecedented three continents.
The United States, Canada and Mexico are hosting the 2026 tournament.
Image: Archive
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