RABAT:
King Mohammed VI d Morocco It was announced on Tuesday that his country joined the bid of Spain and Portugal to host the centenary of the World Cup in 2030.
The announcement means war-torn Ukraine may be kicked out of the bid.
King Mohammed made the announcement in a message delivered after he was selected as the winner of the African Football Confederation 2022 Award of Excellence in Kigali, where the world governing body is located. FIFA is holding its annual meeting.
A spokesman for the Spanish football team told AFP that they will meet their Portuguese and Moroccan counterparts in Kigali on Wednesday, but did not mention Ukraine.
“The president will publish any news about the candidate for the 2030 World Cup in Kigali,” the spokesperson added.
Spain and Portugal announced their joint bids in 2021, before adding Ukraine to their offer last October.
Apart from the distance between Ukraine, and Spain and Portugal, Morocco is separated from Spain only by the Strait of Gibraltar.
A South American bid including Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile is set to challenge the Iberian bid, and Saudi Arabia is expected to lead a ticket with Egypt and Greece.
The World Cup has been co-hosted before.
In 2002 Japan and South Korea shared the competition. In 2026, the decision will be made in the United States, Mexico and Canada, when 11 of the 16 planned locations will be in the US.
The 2026 World Cup will expand from 32 teams to 48 and, under the format announced by FIFA on Tuesday, will reach 104 matches, from 64 in Qatar to last year.
Morocco is another candidate for 2026 but finished a distant second in the poll.
This is the fifth time that Morocco has offered to host the final after trying for the 1994, 1998, 2006 and 2010 World Cups.
Morocco has already said it plans to bid for the World Cup in 2030, which was first held in Africa, in South Africa in 2010.
“This candidate will be a combination of the best in both areas, showing a combination of intelligence, creativity, experience and methods,” said King Mohammed in his message, read by the Moroccan Minister of Sports Chakib Benmoussa.
In the last World Cup, in December in Qatar, Morocco became the first country from Africa or the Arab world to reach the semi-finals.
The first World Cup, in 1930, was hosted and won by Uruguay, which is making a joint bid with Argentina, Paraguay and Chile.
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