The Diplomat
The joint bid between Spain, Portugal and Morocco was chosen yesterday by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to host the 2030 World Cup.
The decision was taken yesterday by the FIFA Council and announced by FIFA president Gianni Infantino. The next step is now up to the FIFA Congress, which will have to formally ratify the Council’s decision. The extraordinary Congress has been called for December next year. In addition, three group stage matches will be played in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, as a tribute to the centenary of the first World Cup, held in 1930 in Uruguay.
“It is great news and a great pride the designation of Spain, Portugal and Morocco to host the 2030 World Cup,” said the acting Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, through his official account on the social network X (former Twitter). “We will demonstrate the strength of our country’s football as world champions, and we will defend the values of equality, solidarity and healthy competition that should accompany sport,” he added.
Sánchez met precisely with Infantino last September 19 in New York (on the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly) to defend the joint bid of Spain, Portugal and Morocco. The meeting took place after the controversy generated by the non-consensual kiss on the mouth that the recently resigned president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, gave to the soccer player Jenni Hermoso after Spain won the Women’s World Cup, an incident that jeopardized the Spanish bid.
Infantino himself declared that this event “should never have happened,” but Sanchez assured at a press conference, a day after meeting with the FIFA president, that during the meeting he had personally conveyed to Infantino that the new Spanish Sports Law, adopted last December, “incorporates principles that are widely embraced by Spanish society, such as equality or the integration of people with disabilities.”
“World Cup 2030 in Spain along with our neighbors Portugal and Morocco,” said acting Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares on the same social network. “For the first time, hosting World Cup on two continents,” he continued. “Building bridges. Promoting the values of sport,” he concluded.
