![Spanish Representatives Oppose Morocco’s Joint Bid with Spain and Portugal Spain’ Prime Minister proposed a trio bid with Morocco and Portugal to host the 2030 World Cup; but the idea does not appear to be popular with Spanish politicians. The representatives of two Spanish political parties, the People’s Party and the Citizens-Party, have said they do not want Spain to submit a joint candidacy with Portugal and Morocco for the 2030 World Cup. In a meeting organized by the National Federation of Sports Facilities Entrepreneurs (FNEID) in Madrid, the People’s party representative, Vicente Azpitarte dismissively spoke about Spain joining a trio with Morocco and Portugal to organize the World Cup. Azpitarte specifically wondered whether Spain would get any advantages from teaming up with the two countries, t Spanish news outlet Iusport reported on Wednesday. The Citizens-Party representative, Roberto Nunez, agreed with Azpitarte. “We do not intend to organize a World Cup with other countries. Spain has more than enough capacity [to organize the World Cup], it is a country that has already organized a World Cup, and we do not understand that proposal,” Nunez said. The adviser of United Podemos, Oscar Penas, stated that he does not clearly see why “the priority is to organize a World Cup or an Olympiad at this time.” Morocco and Spain cooperate on a number of issues, ranging from security and migration to trade and education. On November 18, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, arrived in Morocco for a first visit since his election to premiership. During his visit, Sanchez proposed to both Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani and King Mohammed VI a joint bid for the 2030 World Cup. “We are launching a joint message, which is that this will be a bid between two continents. The King of Morocco is receptive and we’re going to work on it with Portugal. We are very excited about it,” Sanchez said.](https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ABL-Launches-in-Casablanca-Becoming-Africa’s-First-Aircraft-Leaser-180x135.jpeg "ABL Launches in Casablanca, Becoming Africa’s First Aircraft Leaser")
By Sana Elouazi
By Sana Elouazi
Rabat – Following the sacking wave that took down ministers, governors and government officials by order of king Mohammed VI, about 300 Moroccan high officials were banned from leaving the national territory, reported the daily Assabah in its December 26 edition.
In the past few months, hundreds of officials were sacked by the King after he received a report from the Court of Auditors, headed by Driss Jettou, revealing embezzlement of public money and budgets of social projects.
The Court of Auditors will be keeping a watchful eye on officials who collected suspicious amounts of money in a short term of time, added the daily.
Among those sacked are 180 public and government officials, including six secretaries general, the former wali of Marrakech Abdelfettah El Bjioui, and six governors.
According to the daily, the ban on travel would be lifted only after the conclusions of the disciplinary committee chaired by the wali and Director General of Internal Affairs of the Central Administration (DGA), Driss El Jaouhari.
The first meeting of the committee took place on Monday, December 25 after Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit appointed its members.
The newspaper added that during this week, the committee will proceed to hear El Bjioui in addition to six governors, who were sanctioned following the “political earthquake” that has shaken them from their positions.
According to the daily’s sources, officials cleared of the charges are unlikely to return to their previous positions and functions. However, they could be assigned other functions.
The dismissal of officials started in November, when King Mohammed VI ordered the sacking of three ministers and two high officials over the dysfunctions in the Al Hoceima development projects.
The first dismissed bodies have not received any sort of penalty. The second sacking wave took place on December 11, taking down 180 public and government bodies, including six secretaries general, a wali, and six governors.
On December 15, Assabah reported that several members of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) members are among people to be sacked in the third round of dismissals.
Presidents of regions and municipalities are also included in the list, as they could be responsible for mismanagement and dysfunctions in tackling projects. Subsequently, those government and public officials will be held accountable for their charges, added the newspaper.
