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Rabat – BeIN Sports Algerian commentator Hafid Derradji is predicting that FIFA will rule out Morocco before the 68th FIFA Congress on June 13, eliminating the country from the world’s 211-football-federation vote for the host of the 23rd FIFA World Cup.
Derradji, who shared his opinion piece on his Facebook, said that Morocco’s “dream” to host the World Cup might once again “postponed” for other several years “or maybe will never be achieved!”
To back his argument, Derradji said that FIFA President Gianni Infantino is not willing to take on the risks of a Morocco winning bid: “He has shown his concerns over the disparity of the infrastructure level between” the two bidders. The Algerian journalist added that Infantino “does not want to lose America and lose his position whatever the reason is.”
According to Derradji, FIFA’s Evaluation Committee will play its “dirty” game and will consider Morocco’s bid as insufficient to dismiss it even before the June 13 vote.
“The US will do all it can to avoid reaching the voting stage,” to rule out the Moroccan bid.
According to the Algerian commentator, the Moroccan file has grown stronger compared to its previous four bids.
However, “the strength and rigidity of the bids have not [historically] been the only determinants to host major sports events, even if Morocco’s file is the most attractive bid to European and American investors because it will open up the doors for them to establish projects and contribute to the construction of stadiums, hotels, road networks and railways,” he added.
Derradji said that some European and Asian federations–and even some Arab countries, including the advisor of Saudi Crown Prince (Turki Al Sheikh)–have indicated their preference for the World Cup bid. Al Sheikh has previously said that Saudi Arabia will vote for the bid that would serve its interests.
Despite the unwavering support expressed by President of African Football Confederation (CAF) Ahmad Ahmad, CAF will not be “able to convince all the African federations to vote into for Morocco’s bid.” He added that the influence of the President of Morocco’s Royal Football Federation (FRMF), Fouzi Lekjaa, is not enough on its own to convince football federations to vote for his country’s bid.
Derradji mentioned that FIFA will be carrying out inspections in Morocco and the other three-nation North American bidders. The FIFA delegation will also grade the bids with a mark of two out of five, “and if one of the two files get a mark less than two, it will be withdrawn before the General Assembly.”
On June 6, FIFA will name the successful bids, which will be eligible to move to the next voting stage.
Despite continuous speculation, Morocco’s bid is determined to clinch the rights to host the World tournament. The bid has already received support of many countries, including the Russia, France, Qatar, Botswana, Nigeria, Saint Lucia, Luxembourg, Belgium, Serbia, Tunisia, and Algeria.
