Rabat – Morocco is planning to renovate six stadiums as part of its preparatory campaign for the joint bid with Spain and Portugal to host the 2030 World Cup.
Fouzi Lekjaa, the chairman of Morocco’s World Cup bid committee, announced the news during the first meeting of the committee on Thursday.
The committee’s consent is to prepare Rabat’s Prince Moulay Abdellah’s stadium, with a capacity of 64,140 fans, with renovation also covering other stadiums across Morocco like the Ibn Battuta stadium in Tangier with 65,000 seat capacity, and Fez’s stadium with a capacity of 35,455 seats.
The plan also aims to cover Agadir and Marrakech stadiums with 14,144 seats and 41,245 seats, respectively.
In addition, Morocco is planning the construction of a grand stadium in the city of Casablanca, with an estimated hosting capacity of 93,000 football fans.
It has not been decided whether the Tetouan stadium project will be involved in Morocco’s bid, Moroccan state media SNRTNews reported.
In a statement to the press, Lekjaa said that work has begun since King Mohammed VI announced the country’s announcement to join the EU bid with Spain and Portugal in March.
“Meetings will continue jointly with Portugal and Spain,” he said, stressing that the goal is to achieve a project that the Moroccan people dreamed of.
On Thursday, Morocco’s ambassador to Spain Karima Benaich met with Spanish Supreme Council for Sports Victor Franos.
During the meeting, the two officials discussed the joint World Cup joint bid, pointing out that the file “increases the potential for candidacy ten times.”
On March 14, Minister of Education and Sports Chakib Benmussa made Morocco’s official bid announcement during the CAF President Outstanding Achievement Awards Ceremony in Kigali, Rwanda.
The sports minister made the announcement through a speech from King Mohammed VI, who emphasized that the joint bid with Portugal and Spain is unprecedented in football history.
For the monarch, the bid will “bring together Africa and Europe, the northern and southern Mediterranean, and the African, Arab and Euro-Mediterranean worlds.”
