Gianni Infantino has been criticised (Image: Getty)
Gianni Infantino could offer the 2030 World Cup final to Morocco, despite Spain claiming that they will have the honour of hosting the tournament’s finale. The under-fire president of FIFA is claimed to have promised the African nation the right to host the final of world football’s most prestigious competition in four years’ time in exchange for backing him, with Morocco coming as one of Infantino’s most loyal supporters since his appointment in 2016.
The country has been pushing for the final to take place in the brand-new Hassan II Stadium in Casablanca. It will land as the biggest football stadium in the world upon its completion, boasting 115,000 seats. The Times claim that the offer on the table from Infantino would guarantee the new stadium as the venue for the showpiece event, despite a concensus that Real Madrid’s Bernabeu in Spain would be the destination for the final.
That’s despite Spanish FA president, Rafael Louzan, insisting that Spain “will be the leader of the 2030 World Cup and the final of that World Cup will be here,” earlier this year. It comes as Infantino held a meeting in Rabat on Wednesday with key FIFA staff to attempt to rescue his presidency, after facing waves of backlash through controversial plans to sell stakes in the World Cup.
Those proposals were ultimately met with fury from a number of officials, especially in Europe, with UEFA threatening to boycott the tournament outright should they go ahead. The plans, dubbed the FIFA Forward Enterprise, were ultimately scrapped on Friday, but the pressure for Infantino’s resignation has continued in relentless form.
A statement from UEFA after the announcement read: “As a result of today’s discussion, no UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive, unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership.
FIFA’s plans were stopped in their tracks (Image: Getty)
“Nobody should be in any doubt: UEFA and its national associations will oppose these plans with absolute determination. There are moments when institutions are judged not by what they are prepared to accept, but by what they refuse to compromise. This is one of those moments.
“Some things are simply too important to sell. The FIFA World Cup belongs to football. It always will. And so long as Europe has a voice, it will never be for sale.”
In response, Infantino released a statement of his own, which read: “The FIFA Forward Enterprise project was intended to provide a basis for further strengthening our FIFA Member Associations and our sport worldwide, especially in those countries where support is most needed.
“And more so, as we said from the outset, to do this only if a majority of the FIFA Member Associations were in support and always subject to a consultation process with them, the FIFA Council, the Confederations and wider stakeholders. Having listened carefully to all the views, it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place.
“Our purpose has always been – and will always be – to unite and improve. As a result, this proposal will not proceed. Moving forward, my intent is to bring all interested parties back together in the coming days and weeks in the spirit of shared interest in our game, and with the objective to continue growing football everywhere, particularly in those countries that mostly need our support.”