Marruecos, España y Portugal tienen más cerca organizar el Mundial de 2030
Morocco, Spain and Portugal are getting closer to the dream of hosting the 2030 World Cup. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) officially announced its support for the joint Moroccan-Iberian bid, allocating the 54 votes of the African countries to these three nations that are bidding to host the most important football event on the planet.
CAF granted its support "to Morocco which together with Spain and Portugal aspire to jointly organise the 2030 World Cup", as stated in the communiqué issued on behalf of the Confederation's president Patrice Motsepe.
"We are now focused on organising a new World Cup in Africa and we are committed to working with all the national associations and confederations to achieve this," said Motsepe, who made it clear that Morocco's bid "is now the bid of the African continent".
The joint bid would already have 55 votes from Europe through countries affiliated to the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and with these 54 from Africa it would already have 109 and thus a sufficient majority to organise the World Cup provided that there is no later variation or a final disagreement, all this taking into account that the support necessary to organise the World Cup is 106.
The @CAF_Online ExCo, headed by Patrice Motsepe ?? , unanimously endorses the support of the Kingdom of Morocco's candidacy to host the #FIFAWC2030 alongside ?? & ??.
— Arryadia TV (@arryadiatv) April 5, 2023
This came during the meeting held today via videoconference , where all members affirmed their full support to… pic.twitter.com/5YEkVOshsF
FIFA will choose the venue for the World Cup at its Congress next year. The 211 countries that make up the world organisation of football federations will vote and 106 votes are needed to host the World Cup. The Moroccan-Iberian bid would have already achieved its objective with 109 votes practically assured.
The CAF's decision is a major setback for other options, such as the joint bid of Saudi Arabia, Greece and Turkey, which in this case sees European support going to the Moroccan-Iberian bid. Another group aspiring to host the World Cup is the group formed by Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile, with 30 votes secured, which faces an unaffordable majority of votes because Africa and Europe have already shown majority support for Morocco, Spain and Portugal.
In addition, FIFA has yet to approve a change in its statutes to allow countries from different continents, as in the case of the Moroccan-Iberian bid, to submit a joint bid to host the World Cup. This would not be a setback because FIFA president Gianni Infantino himself has shown himself to be in favour of allowing this for Morocco, Spain and Portugal, as well as for other different joint bids.
Morocco can take advantage of the good wave favourable to national football at the moment after its spectacular performance at the last World Cup in Qatar, where it managed to reach the semi-finals (the first time an Arab or African country has achieved this) being eliminated only by what was the reigning champion at the time, Kylian Mbappé's France. The intention to continue to play a leading role in the world of football and to co-host a World Cup is in line with the boost that King Mohammed VI has given in recent years to national sporting development, with significant investment in infrastructure and training to promote Moroccan football, with the Mohammed VI Football Academy as a great exponent.
Morocco has been pursuing the dream of hosting a World Cup for years, and now it seems to be closer than ever. It tried for the 2026 event, but the North African country gave in to the United States-Canada-Mexico bid, very important rivals against whom it could do nothing because they accumulated 207 votes compared to the 65 obtained by the North African nation. Morocco has bid to host the World Cup on five occasions (1994, 1998, 2006, 2010 and 2026), but it was not feasible and now the option is real along with Spain and Portugal, especially with the support of UEFA and CAF.
The bid of Morocco, Spain and Portugal is an absolute reality, rather than a wish. The three countries offer very relevant infrastructures, connections and stadiums, something that weighs very favourably, together with the good work of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, chaired by Luis Rubiales, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, chaired by Fouzi Lekjaa, and the Portuguese Federation led by Fernando Soares Gomes da Silva. Moreover, Morocco has already shown its ability to host major football events. The best example is the successful organisation of the last Club World Cup in Tangiers and Rabat, which was won by Real Madrid.
It should be noted that this new alliance between Spain and Morocco, in this case in the sporting sphere, demonstrates the good harmony between the two countries after the strengthening of their diplomatic ties following the rapprochement that took place when Spain recognised the Moroccan initiative to resolve the Western Sahara conflict as the "most serious, credible and realistic", as opposed to the Polisario Front's opposing proposal, which advocates holding a referendum on the independence of the Sahrawi people. This has helped to overcome the estrangement that arose as a result of the reception of Polisario leader Brahim Ghali on Spanish soil to be treated for a serious respiratory condition in April 2021. This current good relationship between neighbours on both shores of the Mediterranean crystallised with the holding of the High Level Meeting in Rabat, attended by the heads of government of both nations, which led to the signing of agreements of great importance in various sectors, confirming and strengthening the road map established by King Mohammed VI and Pedro Sánchez, President of the Spanish government, once diplomatic normality was restored between the two countries.
