According to Mundo Deportivo, the FIFA presidential election next March may affect the host country of the 2030 World Cup final, with Spain and Morocco vying to host it.
With the World Cup concluded, preparations for the 2030 World Cup in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco have entered the countdown phase. The biggest suspense revolves around which country will host the final: Spain, with the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium as its primary choice, or Morocco, home to the Hassan II Stadium in Casablanca.
This decision will be made by FIFA, and the presidential election scheduled for the 77th FIFA Congress next March could be a key factor. Gianni Infantino has already announced his candidacy, at which time he will have led the world's highest football organization for 11 years.
It is worth noting that UEFA and CAF, the two continental football federations to which Spain and Morocco belong, are the two organizations with the largest number of members in the FIFA Congress, which consists of 211 associations. In addition to CAF and UEFA, FIFA also includes CONMEBOL, OECD, CONCACAF, and AFC.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has 54 representatives, with Morocco being a key leading force. The Confederation believes that the refereeing decisions they suffered during Egypt's match against Argentina in the previous World Cup have deeply hurt them. The question now is to see how much this will weaken their support for Infantino's re-election and how FIFA will try to compensate. One option is to commit to awarding the final to Morocco.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is the second-largest continental football federation under FIFA, second only to UEFA with 55 member associations. As for UEFA, the well-known conflict between Gianni Infantino and UEFA President Aleksandar Ceferin makes securing European support equally important.
The earlier appointment of Slovenian referee Slavko Vončić to officiate the final was already a clear indication of goodwill. Mundo Deportivo believes that Vončić is not qualified to officiate this match, and coincidentally, he shares Slovenia with the UEFA president.
In this context, determining the venue for the final could also be a way to secure internal FIFA support, including that of the Spanish Football Federation. UEFA and CAF together comprise more than half of the total delegates to the FIFA Congress, with the remaining delegates including 41 from CONCACAF, 47 from AFC, 10 from CONMEBOL, and 11 from Oceania Football Confederation.
If Infantino is successfully re-elected, he will face these decisions during his new term.
