Rabat - The president of the Moroccan Royal Football Federation, Fouzi Lekjaa, addressed a letter to the head of FIFA, Gianni Infantino on March 25, condemning FIFA’s 2026 Task Force.
Rabat – The president of the Moroccan Royal Football Federation, Fouzi Lekjaa, addressed a letter to the head of FIFA, Gianni Infantino on March 25, condemning FIFA’s 2026 Task Force.
FIFA made its announcement just a few days after the publication of the 2026 World Cup bid books of both Morocco and the joint three-nation North American bid.
The 2026 Task Force constitutes a group of football “experts” in charge of evaluating the assets of each bid racing to win the eligibility to host the 23rd FIFA World Cup.
In the letter published by FRMF, Lekjaa expressed Morocco’s concerns about the fairness and transparency of the procedure.
“To my surprise, the scoring system was finally sent to us on March 14”–24 hours before Morocco submitted its file and two days before the deadline for the submission of applications to FIFA.
Denouncing the FIFA’s surprising measure, Lekjaa said that this system adds “several technical criteria that were not part of the original regulations,” adding that some principles “have never been transmitted to FRMF in the preparation process of the Moroccan bid.
“The FRMF is satisfied that the scoring system established by the Task Force for the evaluation of the nomination files does not comply with the requirements of the regulations concerning the bidding and selection of the host country or countries of the 2026 World Cup,” reads the letter addressed to Infantino.
Subsequently, the Moroccan Federation will not accept FIFA’s substantial changes to the original requirements at such a “critical and late stage of the application process.”
Before Morocco, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) condemned the Task Force system, emphasizing that this group is made up of “Infantino’s boys.”
ESPN reported that CAF believes that this could be a plot to rule our Morocco’s bid before the June 13 vote.
On June 6, FIFA will name the successful bids, which will be eligible to move to the next voting stage.
After Morocco’s announced its bid to host the world’s premier tournament, a unanimous decision was announced by FIFA to expand FIFA World CUp to 48 teams, beginning in 2016. Meanwhile, this year’s World Cup and the following tournament in 2022 in Qatar include only 32 squads.
FIFA’s decision, however, did not deter Morocco’s determination. Morocco has reaffirmed its readiness to host the tournament.
The Moroccan bid has received the support of many international countries, who promised to give their voice to the African bid. The list of Morocco’s bid supporters, includes Belgium, Qatar, Russia, Algeria, Tunisia, Nigeria, Botswana, Luxembourg, Saint Lucia, France, and Serbia.
