Morocco seems to have little chance of hosting in 2026
● Morocco are nursing hopes of following in the footsteps of South Africa.
Blocking their path is a formidable foe in the form of a joint bid from the US, Mexico and Canada.
Morocco are making a fifth attempt to stage the event.
In line with the election promises Gianni Infantino made en route to the Fifa presidency, the 2026 World Cup finals will be the first to feature 48 teams.
Nobody needs the wisdom of Solomon to deduce that the expansion from the current 32 teams to 48 places a greater demand on infrastructure than before on any country that puts its hand up to stage the globe’s greatest single sports event.
On that score alone, Morocco, whose continued occupation of Western Sahara casts them in the colours of modern-day colonisers like Israel, are already trailing.
Last Friday the Fifa World Cup task force conducted a thorough infrastructure assessment evaluation of the respective bid books — the American, Mexican and Canadian book is a 530-page document and the Moroccan one a paltry 193-pager.
Of course volume doesn’t matter but the devil is in the detail. The report card reveals that the scales are heavily stacked against the North Africans. No buddy, don’t take my word for it.
Read for yourself:
Infrastructure: Stadiums: United bid 4.1, Morocco 2.3.
Team facilities: United bid 3.7, Morocco 2.9.
Accommodation: United bid 3.9, Morocco 2.6.
Transport: United bid 4.3, Morocco 2.1. Telecommunications: United bid 4.0, Morocco 3.5.
Fan festival locations: United bid 3.6, Morocco 3.2.
Morocco will need a miracle to turn the tables but they were able to score a bit
The scales are heavily stacked against the North Africans
better where commercial considerations were concerned as the list below indicates.
Organising costs: United bid 2.0, Morocco 3.0. Media marketing: United bid 4.9, Morocco 4.6. Ticketing and hospitality: United bid 5.0, Morocco 2.4.
Among the reasons Morocco argue the world of soccer should congregate on their shores in 2026 is the exceptionally low murder rates and very low gun circulation.
Duh! Those Americans had guns way back in 1994 and they still got to stage the premier soccer shindig.
The brothers up north never learn. Those not blessed with tea-bag memories will recall that Morocco trumpeted the crime chorus of South Africa being the murder capital of the world until the cows came home.
That song didn’t stop Sepp Blatter from announcing that the 2010 World Cup would be organised in Sous Africa.
Morocco want to play nicely with the rest of the continent when they’ve previously pulled down their pants and let one rip in the direction of the rest of Africa.
Who can forget that after being awarded the right to stage the 2015 Africa Nations Cup tournament, they threw it back to the Confederation of African Football and declined to host.
The reason? Ebola. Morocco were too precious a country to open their doors to Ebola-infected Africans. Now that it suits them they want everyone’s backing.
They want to buy their way into the hearts of Africa after giving it a middle finger for so long. Not that one is blowing the vuvuzela for the American-led bid.
The joint-bid head honchos spent the whole weekend in Polokwane trying to convince the 14 presidents of the Council of Southern African Football Associations (Cosafa) to throw their weight behind the North Americans.
It’s strange that a bid led by the US wants support from some of the countries called “sh**holes” by US doorknob president Donald Duck. But now the US and its two partners see those countries as a trump card to their victory?
The Fifa congress will sit in Russia on June 13. Part of the business of that meeting will be to make a determination on the destination of the 2026 hosts.
Given the balance of forces, Morocco will be nursing a massive headache soon.
Twitter: @bbkunplugged99