The heads of government of Spain and Portugal considered this Wednesday that the inclusion of Morocco “improves” their joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup and launches a message of unity between Europe and Africa.
“I believe that this candidacy of the Iberian Peninsula with Morocco has a very positive charge,” said the Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, at a joint press conference with his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sánchez, after a bilateral summit in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands.
“It launches a very important message for the whole world and Europe and Africa in particular, as it affirms that we are two neighboring continents, two continents that want to work together”, added Costa.
On Tuesday, King Mohammed VI of Morocco announced that his country had joined the candidacy of Spain and Portugal to organize the 2030 World Cup.
Spain and Portugal announced their candidacy for the 2030 World Cup on June 5, 2021, in a friendly between their teams at the Metropolitano stadium in Madrid.
In October 2022, both joined Ukraine, but according to the Spanish press recently, the suspension of the president of the Ukrainian federation for alleged corruption will make the country, currently at war with Russia, out of the candidacy.
This Wednesday, neither Costa nor Sánchez mentioned Ukraine during the interview.
The inclusion of Morocco in the Iberian project “puts the joint candidacy of Spain and Portugal in even better conditions to be able to win this race”, reiterated the Spanish prime minister.
“It is the first time that a joint candidacy is presented between the two shores of the Mediterranean, an candidacy between Africa and Europe, which seems to me to be able to help and unite what nothing can separate”, stated Costa.
Sources from the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) said that the three federations should meet this Wednesday in Kigali (Rwanda), during the FIFA congress.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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