UEFA boss supports Morocco bid to host 2030 World Cup
Morocco’s joint bid, along with Spain and Portugal, to host the 2030 world cup just got a shot in the arm by the UEFA president, according to AP.
Once an opponent of bidding for the 2030 World Cup with another continent, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin gave public support on April 5th to Morocco joining the European candidacy.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Ceferin said at a news conference in Lisbon after the UEFA Congress. “It makes sense to join with Morocco. Morocco is very, very close to Spain and to Portugal.”
The long-planned Spain-Portugal bid brought Ukraine on board last October. It was joined last month by Morocco, which is enjoying new status in soccer after eliminating Spain and Portugal on a stunning run to the 2022 World Cup semifinals in Qatar.
In 2018, Morocco was the losing bidder in the 2026 World Cup contest — won by the United States, Canada and Mexico — and immediately committed to trying again for the next edition. Morocco’s impressive performance in the most recent world cup in Qatar has driven it up the ranks as a host country contender.
Most of the outrage was directed toward Saudi Arabia, which is believed to orchestrate the vote against Morocco. According to the Moroccan media, the Gulf country, deemed one of Morocco’s closest political allies, did not only give its vote to the joint bid, it went further to organize a campaign among Asian football associations, many of them are Muslim or Arab countries.
Moroccan media said politics and geostrategic calculations are main factors behind the voting of some Arab countries against Morocco.
In this respect, they pointed out Morocco’s neutral stance regarding the conflict between Qatar and other Gulf countries, Qatar’s clear and early support for Morocco’s bid, the stronger alignment of the concerned countries with the U.S. administration and the U.S. President Donald Trump’s intimidating tweets.
Trump has previously warned that he will cut aid for countries that may vote against the joint North American bid.
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI talked late on Wednesday by phone with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani.
A statement by the king’s office commended Qatar’s vote for Morocco’s bid to host the 2026 World Cup, adding that Sheikh Tamim informed the king of “Qatar’s full support for Morocco if the kingdom bids for the hosting rights of the 2030 World Cup.”
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