September 11 – Moroccan FA president Fouzi Lekjaa has repeated his assertion that the 2030 World Cup final will be played at the new Hassan II Stadium outside Casablanca, despite FIFA saying that no decision has yet been made.
Lekjaa made the claim at a political event in Benslimane on Thursday, saying: “The province of Benslimane will have the honour of hosting the 2030 World Cup final.”
A spokesperson for FIFA said the venue would be decided “in due course”, with Spain continuing to push for the final to be staged there. RFEF president Rafael Louzán has publicly argued that Spain should get the showpiece, while Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu remains an obvious rival.
However, Morocco has been a key ally of FIFA president Gianni Infantino who, when the InfantinoGate scandal over the FIFA rights sell off broke, scurried to the country and summoned his senior management (at least those that supported him) for a meetings, rather than meeting them in FIFA’s headquarters.
Last month FIFA was forced to deny reports that Infantino had promised the final to Morocco in return for support ahead of his increasingly difficult 2027 re-election campaign and his influence over African and Arabic voters. FIFA called the suggestion “false and misleading”.
Morocco has formally nominated Infantino for another term and said it would “exclusively” back his candidacy. The election itself will be held in Rabat next March.
The $1 billion Hassan II Stadium is currently under construction. Located about 60km from Casablanca it will hold 115,000 spectators when finished, making it the world’s largest football-specific stadium.
Rabat has become an important FIFA base with 2030 preparations underway. Its new Africa office opened there last year at the Mohammed VI Football Complex, and when Infantino was fighting for his position following the collapse of the FIFA Forward Enterprise project.
None of that proves that Morocco has been handed the final as a political favour, and FIFA has explicitly denied doing so, despite what in legal terms is called ‘the appearance of bias’.
However, Lekjaa’s certainty that Morocco will host the 2030 final is awkward for the governing body. FIFA says the biggest match of the 2030 World Cup is still up for grabs; one of Infantino’s strongest supporters is speaking as though the matter has already been settled.
World champions Spain are still campaigning for a final at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid.
Contact the writer of the story, Harry Ewing, at [email protected]
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