It might’ve been close to three weeks since Spain lifted the World Cup and brought an end to the 2026 edition of the tournament, but the FIFA-related drama hasn’t stopped there. In fact, between private investment scandals, World Cup boycotts and calls for Gianni Infantino to be sacked, the off-field drama has been just as plentiful.
But away from their internal crisis, FIFA appear to have another issue on their hands, with Spain and Morocco having entered somewhat of a diplomatic standoff. The two make up three of the main co-hosts for the 2030 World Cup, with Spain’s Iberian neighbours, Portugal, the other.
However, a major row broke out between Spain and Morocco following thousands of migrants from the former flocking to Ceuta, which is an autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. The enclave shares a land border with Spain, despite being on the African mainland, with close to 100 deaths having been reported since last week.
The situation has sparked fury in Spain, with one political party even filing a motion to have Morocco stripped of hosting rights for the 2030 World Cup. But as this standoff continues to bubble away in the background, the question is, do you agree?
Sumar are the Spanish party calling for a change to the hosts, with the left-wing group having called on the government, the Spanish FA and Portuguese authorities to: “carry out a specific review and evaluation of the current joint organisation model.”
They have also requested that the government of Spain make a request ot the FA to activate the mechanisms provided by FIFA to review compliance with the statutes and its human rights policy and to carry out an independent, public and updated study of the “risks to human rights in host countries”. They ask for all of this to be completed within six months and are also pushing for reform of FIFA’s regulatory framework, which would allow reviewing or withdrawing host nation status when “serious” breaches occur.
Meanwhile, in Portugal, the sixth-biggest party in the legislature provided their support for the call. In a statement, the Portuguese Green Party said: “Morocco’s participation in co-organising the 2030 World Cup with Portugal and Spain has become unsustainable.”
Never before has a men’s World Cup host been stripped of hosting rights after it was confirmed. The 1986 World Cup hosts did change after Colombia informed FIFA they wouldn’t be able to facilitate an expanded World Cup, with Mexico having taken up the mantle instead.