Rabat - Former head of FIFA Sepp Blatter slammed the decision of the world governing football body to hire a Task Force to evaluate the bids submitted to host the 23rd World Cup in 2026.
Rabat – Former head of FIFA Sepp Blatter slammed the decision of the world governing football body to hire a Task Force to evaluate the bids submitted to host the 23rd World Cup in 2026.
On his Twitter, Blatter recalled a fundamental principle adopted by FIFA in 2011. This principle indicates that “the congress shall decide on the attribution of the World Cup 2026–and not any sub-committee or task-force.”
Blatter added that all of the bidders–Morocco and the three-nations North American bid–have the right to “make a presentation” at the congress, referring to the 68th FIFA Congress, to take place on June 13, in Moscow.
Blatter’s statements came in response to FIFA’s latest Task Force measure, which will carry out an evaluation of adherence to new bid requirements prior to the FIFA vote in June.
Just recall a fundamental principal in FIFA: Decision taken in 2011: the congress shall decide on the attribution of the World Cup 2026 – and not any sub-committee or task-force. Each candidate must have the right to make a presentation at the congress. #Morocco #USA #FIFA #CAF
— Joseph S Blatter (@SeppBlatter) April 5, 2018
On March 25, the Royal Football Federation (FRMF) addressed a letter to FIFA regarding 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,” wrote President of FRMF Fouzi Lekjaa.
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.”
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.”
FIFA responded that the aim of the Task Force is to “determine whether the bids meet the requirements in terms of infrastructure and revenue-cost criteria.”
The international body added that FIFA “simply provides a methodology for assessing and documenting the extent to which bids submitted meet these requirements in certain key areas.”
Most of the criteria used in the 2026 Task Force are not sine qua non, which results in the exclusion of a bidder if it is not respected. The objective factors that are part of “the evaluation of the bidder.”
