LAHORE: Morocco’s football authority has asked the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) to support its bid to host the FIFA World Cup 2026.
A high-level Moroccan delegation visited the PFF’s headquarters in Lahore on Saturday to make a formal request.
FIFA member associations will vote on June 13, a day before the opening game of this year’s tournament, to decide the host of the World Cup 2026.
“Morocco is our brotherly country and we welcome its delegation,” PFF President Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat told a joint news conference.
“Pakistan is grateful to our guests, and the PFF is ready to play a positive role in the world football community.”
Mohamed Karmoune, Moroccan ambassador to Pakistan, said: “We are thankful for the warm welcome by the PFF.”
He added: “Pakistan is a respected member of FIFA, and it is important for us to enlist the support of all brotherly countries. We are hopeful to win the bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.”
The ambassador of Morocco’s 2026 bid, Hicham El-Guerouj, said his country hosting the tournament “will be a wonderful experience for the rest of the world.”
Morocco seeks Pakistan’s support to host FIFA World Cup 2026
Morocco seeks Pakistan’s support to host FIFA World Cup 2026
- FIFA member associations will vote on June 13 to decide the host of the World Cup 2026, and Morocco is one of the candidates
- “The PFF is ready to play a positive role in the world football community,” PFF President Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat told a joint news conference
Suicide bomber kills at least five at wedding in northwest Pakistan
- Attack took place in Dera Ismail Khan, targeting the home of a local peace committee member
- Peace committees are community-based groups that report militant activity to security forces
PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber killed at least five people and wounded 10 others after detonating explosives at a wedding ceremony in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, officials said, in an attack that underscored persistent militant violence in the country’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The blast took place at the home of a local peace committee member in Dera Ismail Khan district, where guests had gathered for a wedding, police and emergency officials said.
Peace committees in the region are informal, community-based groups that work with security forces to report militant activity and maintain order, making their members frequent targets of attacks.
“A blast occurred near Qureshi Moor in Dera Ismail Khan. Authorities have recovered five bodies and shifted 10 injured to hospital,” said Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the provincial Rescue 1122 emergency service, adding that the rescue operation was ongoing.
Police said the attacker blew himself up inside the house during the ceremony and that the bomber’s head had been recovered, confirming it was a suicide attack.
Several members of the local peace committee were present at the time, raising fears the toll could rise.
District Police Officer Sajjad Ahmed Sahibzada said authorities had launched an investigation into the incident, while security forces sealed off the area.
Militant attacks have surged in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the Taliban returned to power in neighboring
Afghanistan in 2021, with the administration in Islamabad blaming the Afghan government for “facilitating” cross-border attacks targeting Pakistani civilians and security forces. However, Kabul has repeatedly denied the allegation.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also seen frequent intelligence-based operations by security forces targeting suspected militants.
No group has immediately claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack.
