Morocco, Spain and Portugal present the "peace bid" in Rabat
Morocco has taken the initiative to make the 2030 World Cup a success. In the Mohammed VI sports city, the bid "of peace" was formalised, as the top football officials in Morocco, Spain and Portugal called it.
The letter of intent for the World Cup is one of the requirements demanded by FIFA, although the final document will be the one presented at the end of 2024, where the cities hosting matches will have to appear and, most importantly, whether Casablanca or Madrid will host the final on 14 July.
The president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, Fouzi Lekjaa, said it would be an opportunity to "relive the joint history" of Spain, Morocco and Portugal. He also announced that the three countries will work together to "make this event the best in the history of football".
Morocco's bid has been rejected several times in recent years. Lekjaa said the 2030 World Cup "will go down in history and will be an unprecedented event in the history of football".
Following this meeting, the three-nation bidding process is now being brought together as one to move forward with preparations. Previously, Lisbon and Madrid had hosted meetings, but only in Rabat did the three presidents appear to make the joint appeal.
Pedro Rocha is the president of the RFEF management until elections are held in the first half of 2024, so his decisions will be important. It is possible that he will stand to lead Spanish football
"In times of conflict, such as the one we are currently experiencing, it is important to highlight that three countries from two different continents are coming together to organise a World Cup. The path is peace," said Pedro Rocha after the event.
For Portugal, Fernando Gomes said that "we are going to leave our mark on the history of football thanks to the experience we are going to mobilise and the infrastructures we are going to build".
It was precisely the words of the president of the Portuguese Football Federation that revealed that there will be friction in this distribution of venues and that Morocco and Spain will be the two countries that can contribute the most. "We know the difficulties, it is not an easy task, but we are going to achieve our objectives, we have been working for a year and we have prepared ourselves," he said, adding: "We have to take the necessary time because confidence is the basis of our bid".
The large stadium in Casablanca with a capacity of 114,000 spectators will be the construction that will mark the future of the 2030 World Cup. The new Bernabéu is, for the moment, the chosen venue after the latest renovation and after having hosted the 1982 final or the Libertadores final between River and Boca in 2017.
If Morocco can get its jewel in the crown in time, the bid will have to rethink the distribution of the 101 matches out of the 104 to be played in the summer of 2030.