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Rabat – The president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), Aleksander Ceferin, has said that he will not support a country from another continent to join a European bid to host the 2030 World Cup.
Quoted by Al Jazeera, Ceferin expressed that he is not “in favor of cross-confederation bids.”
In his first official visit to Morocco in November, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez officially proposed a trio bid between Morocco, Spain, and Portugal for the 2030 World Cup bid.
Sanchez announced the news in a press conference he co-chaired with Morocco’s Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani.
Sanchez said that through the bid, “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.”
Morocco already announced its intention to bid for the 2030 World Cup hosting rights, but has not yet announced whether it will accept Spain’s offer. Portugal is also still uncertain whether it is ready for the World Cup adventure.
Read Also: Sanchez: Spain-Morocco-Portugal World Cup Bid, a Bid Between 2 Continents
After Sanchez’s announcement, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said that his government has not received any official proposal from Spain regarding the trio bid. Costa said that the proposal is “an uncertain idea that has never been officially put to us, and when it is we naturally have to study it.”
Ceferin also said that politicians should stay away from sports decisions.
“Someone should say once to the politicians it’s not up to them to speak if they will be hosts of the Euros or the World Cup or not,” said UEFA president.
FIFA and UEFA have rules against any political interference in a sports tournament, but they do not have the right to attack politicians’ expectations.
FIFA did not comment on the controversial tweet of US President Donald Trump during the 2026 World Cup bidding campaign, in which he warned other countries against opposing the North American bid.
Morocco competed to host the 2026 World Cup but lost to the North American trio bid in June.
Immediately after its loss, Morocco announced its intention to bid again for the right to host the 2030 World Cup.
The 2030 World Cup may have many more bids than the 2026 bid when the only bidders were Morocco and the joint bid between Canada, Mexico, and US.
Several countries have shown an interest in bidding to host the global tournament, including four Balkan countries, England, and a joint bid from three South American countries: Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay.
