ZÜRICH,
Switzerland
On Wednesday, Fifa unveiled an unprecedented formula for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, with matches spread across Europe, Africa and South America to celebrate the centenary of the event.
For the first time in the
tournament's history, the European, African and South American confederations
have agreed on a single bid, presented by Morocco, Spain and Portugal, but with
three matches to be held in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
One hundred years after the
first edition in Montevideo, the men's World Cup "will unite three
continents and six countries", promises the soccer body, which has yet to
validate the technical criteria and will not officially award the competition
until the end of 2024.
However, with the Fifa
Council's "unanimous" approval of this single bid, the road seems
clear for this intercontinental organization, promising a complex political and
logistical set-up and numerous questions surrounding the impact of major
sporting events.
"Fifa continues its cycle
of destruction against the world's greatest tournament", reacted the
Football Supporters Europe association on X (ex-Twitter), deploring a
"horrible" formula for fans and "no consideration" for the
environment.
Wednesday's announcement puts
an end to the rumoured rivalry between two favourites, a joint bid by
Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay, and a European ticket long led by Spain
and Portugal.
A year ago, with the support
of UEFA, the two countries included Ukraine in their bid, saying they wanted to
send "a message of solidarity and hope" and pay tribute to the
"tenacity and resilience" of a country occupied by the Russian army
since February 2022.
But this highly political
pairing had not been clarified since, and Morocco, the five-time unsuccessful
bidder to host the tournament, entered the fray in mid-March, without at the
time specifying what would become of Ukraine.
"I am convinced that,
with Morocco and Portugal, we will organize the best World Cup in
history," said Pedro Rocha, acting president of the Spanish Football Federation
(RFEF), quoted in a joint statement by the three federations.
"This decision by the
Fifa Council salutes and recognizes Morocco's choice place in the concert of
great nations," said the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, in a statement.
Not only is his country, which
is coming off a historic semi-final appearance at the FIFA World Cup in 2022,
set to become the second African country to host a FIFA World Cup since South
Africa in 2010, it has also secured one of the three qualifying places reserved
for official hosts, according to Fifa.
And while this is not the case
for the South American countries, who will have to make it through the
qualifiers, they have won two major concessions in exchange for the withdrawal
of the Argentina-Chile-Uruguay-Paraguay bid.
Montevideo, Asunción and
Buenos Aires will each host a "festive match" of the tournament, Fifa
said. These should be the three inaugural matches, although the opening
ceremony will be held in the official host countries, according to a source
within the body.
Finally, according to the
organization, a "centenary ceremony" will be held "at the
stadium where it all began", in Montevideo, when the event brought
together 13 teams in the same host city - compared with 32 for the 2022 World
Cup in Qatar and 48 from the 2026 edition in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
The Estadio Centenario is set
to host the very first match, according to the head of the South American
Confederation Alejandro Dominguez, while the Argentinians will play their first
match "at home", according to the Argentine Federation.
Fifa has also launched a call
for bids for the next edition, in 2034, with the Asian and Oceanic
confederations taking part in accordance with the tournament's continental
rotation principle.
Unsurprisingly, Saudi Arabia,
which had set its sights on the 2030 World Cup, confirmed that it would bid to
host the 2034 tournament.
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