RABAT: King Mohammed VI of Morocco announced on Tuesday that his country had joined the bid by Spain and Portugal to host the centenary World Cup in 2030.
The announcement means that war-torn Ukraine is likely to be dropped from the bid.
King Mohammed made the announcement in a message delivered as he was named the winner of the African Football Confederation 2022 Award of Excellence in Kigali, where world governing body FIFA is holding its annual congress.
The Spanish and Portuguese federations did not respond to requests from AFP for confirmation of Morocco’s inclusion.
Spain and Portugal declared their joint candidacy in 2021, before adding Ukraine to their bid last October.
In contrast to 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 hopes to lead a joint ticket with Egypt and Greece.
The World Cup has had joint hosts before.
In 2002 Japan and South Korea shared the competition. In 2026, the finals will be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada, when 11 of the 16 planned venues will are in the US.
The 2026 World Cup will expand from 32 teams to 48 and, under the format FIFA announced on Tuesday, will stretch over 104 matches, up from 64 in Qatar last year.
Morocco was the other candidate for 2026 but finished a distant second in the voting.
That was the fifth time Morocco had bid to host the finals after trying for 1994, 1998, 2006 and 2010 World Cups.
Morocco had already said it planned to bid for the 2030 World Cup, which has been held in Africa once, in South Africa in 2010.
“This candidature will be a gathering of the best on both sides, and the demonstration of an alliance of genius, creativity, experience and means,” said King Mohammed in his message, read by the Moroccan Minister of Sports Chakib Benmoussa.
At the last World Cup, in December in Qatar, Morocco became the first nation from ether Africa or the Arab world to reach the semifinals.
The first World Cup, in 1930, was hosted and won by Uruguay, which is making a joint bid with Argentina, Paraguay and Chile.
Morocco says joining Spain-Portugal FIFA 2030 World Cup bid
https://arab.news/bx26g
Morocco says joining Spain-Portugal FIFA 2030 World Cup bid
- Spain and Portugal declared their joint candidacy in 2021, before adding Ukraine to their bid last October
- Morocco had already said it planned to bid for the 2030 World Cup, which has been held in Africa once
Bethell spins England to 3-0 sweep over Sri Lanka in T20 World Cup warmup
- The series served as a dress rehearsal for the 20-nation showpiece that Sri Lanka is co-hosting with India
- The left-armer snared three wickets in a dramatic over to flip the game on its head as the hosts were skittled for 116 with three balls to spare
PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka: Jacob Bethell underlined his importance to England’s T20 World Cup hopes as he spun them to a hard-fought 12-run win over Sri Lanka to complete a 3-0 clean sweep at Pallekele on Tuesday.
The series served as a dress rehearsal for the 20-nation showpiece that Sri Lanka is co-hosting with India.
The contest hung in the balance heading into the 18th over with Sri Lanka needing 21 runs off 18 balls with four wickets in hand but the part-time spin of Bethel turned the game.
The left-armer snared three wickets in a dramatic over to flip the game on its head as the hosts were skittled for 116 with three balls to spare. Bethel finished with career-best figures of four for 11.
“It was one of the most fun games I have been part of,” said England captain Harry Brook.
“We showed we can adapt to challenging conditions. Today we bowled 16 overs of spin and to do that against a Sri Lankan side in their own conditions is really satisfying.”
England had mustered only 128 for nine but showcased their depth and nous, defending a total that looked well below par on a surface offering turn and bounce.
After just four overs from the quicks, the spinners took center stage and wove a web around the Sri Lankan batters, much as they had throughout the tour.
The spinners had been pivotal in England’s ODI series triumph in Colombo last week and again proved the ace up their sleeve.
England head to India to launch their World Cup campaign with momentum at their backs, while Sri Lanka have plenty of soul-searching to do with their frailties against spin brutally exposed.
Bethel found able allies in Will Jacks, who bagged three wickets, while fellow tweakers Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson chipped in with one apiece to keep the hosts on a tight leash.
Sam Curran, England’s hero in the opening game with a hat-trick, showed his all-round pedigree in the dead rubber, carving out a career-best 58 from 48 balls to rescue the side that had slipped to 60 for six.
Returning quick Dushmantha Chameera, back after a groin injury, was a rare bright spark for Sri Lanka, claiming his maiden five-wicket haul in T20Is. His five for 24 are the best figures in England-Sri Lanka contests and the third-best ever at Pallekele.
“Very disappointing. We need to address a few areas, especially the options we take against spin bowling,” said Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka.
“I thought we had addressed that issue in the last game but the old problems resurfaced again.”
Both sides begin their World Cup campaign next Sunday with Sri Lanka hosting Ireland in Colombo while England face Nepal in Mumbai.
