The Spanish government is confident the 2030 World Cup final will be held in Spain, despite reports suggesting co-host Morocco had been awarded the event.
Sports minister Milagros Tolón insisted Spain “deserved” to stage the final, telling Cadena Ser on Wednesday: “We are the reigning men’s and women’s World Cup champions, and Spain and Portugal spearheaded the bid for the 2030 World Cup, which Morocco later joined. We have many advantages and strengths as a country.”
Spain, Portugal, and Morocco are the co-hosts for the tournament which is four years away. While Morocco hopes to stage the final at its planned 115,000-seat King Hassan II Stadium near Casablanca, Spain offers at least two contenders: Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu and Barcelona’s Nou Camp.
Fifa swiftly denied the British media report on Tuesday, which had suggested president Gianni Infantino offered Morocco the final in exchange for support.
A Fifa spokesperson said it was “false and misleading to claim the Fifa president has made any promise in relation to hosting the Fifa World Cup 2030 final. A decision will be made by Fifa in due course.”
Ms Tolón expressed the Spanish government’s “surprise” at the initial report, but highlighted Fifa’s subsequent denial.
“The most important thing is that Fifa has already denied it,” she said. “We are working with Fifa, and we have our next meeting in September. They have been very clear and emphatic in denying this news. We will continue working because we want the World Cup final to be in Spain.”
After denying a deal with Morocco, Fifa also released a statement on Wednesday pledging its support for Infantino following a crisis meeting in Rabat.
After scrapping his World Cup sell-off plan last Friday, Infantino apologised for his actions and promised a review of the matter.
The statement read: “We acknowledge mistakes were made in the process of the proposed establishment of FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE).
“It was certainly not the intention for the Fifa Council and Fifa Member Associations to feel excluded from the process and it should have been handled differently. We acknowledge that errors were also made after the proposal was leaked to media.
“We sincerely apologise for these errors and commit to them not happening again. With this in mind, we will conduct a necessary review, and a report will be presented to the Fifa Council at its next scheduled meeting.”
