Morocco competes to host FIFA World Cup 2026

Morocco stands alone against a coalition of North American countries in 2026 FIFA World Cup bid.

• “We are competing against stronger economies, but the voting system has changed, a lot of other things have changed,” Toufik Senhaji, Moroccan football journalist, told Al Jazeera.

• “Morocco itself has changed during the last few years in terms of infrastructure. We have seen more development in Morocco,” he said.

Qualification process

Before the vote in June, a five-member task force will assess each bidding country, and could potentially disqualify it.

• A five-member task force, dominated by European officials, will make inspection visits, then grade and score the bids.
• Score: The task force will assign a score from 0 to 5, where 0 is “no requirements met/very weak” and 5 is “requirements exceeded/excellent”.
• 70 percent of the panel’s score goes for infrastructure, while 30 percent is based on projected costs and revenues.
• Bids must score at least 2 for the individual aspects of stadiums, teams and referee facilities, plus accommodation and transport links.

• “The scores have a bearing on whether or not a bid qualifies for the next stage of the bidding process, with bids shortlisted by the FIFA Council,” according to FIFA.

• Mimimum: Failure to score 2 (“minimum requirements met/sufficient”) from the task force means a bid “has been evaluated as ‘high risk’ and represents a material failure”, a FIFA bid regulations document states, whereupon “FIFA shall terminate this Bidding Registration.”
• FIFA’s Council must approve the verdict of the task force before the Congress votes.

Morocco’s bid

• Stadiums: The largest venue, in Casablanca, has a capacity of 67,000, whereas FIFA will want a venue with at least 80,000 seats for the opening game and final.
• Only five other stadiums have a capacity in excess of 40,000.
• Timezone: The chief commercial officer at FIFA, Philippe Le Floc’h, highlighted how Morocco is in “the perfect time zone for Europe and Asia” television audiences.
• “There are other ways to generate revenues,” he said, “and the time zone in Morocco could help us.”
• African Nations: However, Morocco is building a good track record by hosting the continent’s second-biggest tournament – the African Nations Championship 2018.
• It has also staged the bigger Africa Cup of Nations and the Francophone games, which featured 1,700 athletes.
• Russia’s World Cup 2018 will be the Moroccan team’s first World Cup for 20 years.

America’s bid

The United States-led bid, which includes Canada and Mexico as minority partners, hopes to be awarded the hosting rights to one of the biggest events in sports without facing a challenge.

• America’s stadiums: The US would host 60 games in venues requiring only minor construction work, including three stadiums with more than 87,000 seats.

• Canada and Mexico, which has the 87,523-capacity Azteca Stadium, will settle for 10 matches each up to the round of 16.
• TV revenues: FIFA, which is trying to return to profitability, would earn $300 million more from the North American broadcasters if the 2026 World Cup is played in the region.

• “It would have some commercial attraction,” Le Floc’h said. “It has got infrastructure. They have got massive stadiums because they are used for American Football. So on the pure hospitality point, potentially, we might have more revenues.”

• Chicago: FIFA has faced criticism from the home city of the US Soccer Federation. Chicago refused to sign up to the bid because it believed the tax waivers and legal provisions required pose a risk to the city and shareholders.
• Vancouver, which hosted the 2015 Women’s World Cup final, said its bid was rejected because it refused to comply with FIFA’s requirements that include putting agreements under Swiss law.

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