Portugal and Morocco may be left as the only host nations of the 2030 FIFA World Cup at a time when Spain is at risk of being excluded due to concerns over the management of its national football federation.
The possibility is being widely reported by top Spanish sports newspapers such as Marca and AS, which say that FIFA is keeping a very close eye on the situation.
The Spanish government, through its Superior Sports Council, has been managing the leadership crisis affecting the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), but this has raised concerns over a potential violation of the sports regulation principles established by FIFA and UEFA.
If FIFA and UEFA decide that the Spanish government is guilty of political interference, effectively jeopardising the independence of the national football federation, then serious measures could be taken.
Not only could FIFA suspend the Spanish national team from participating in international competitions such as the Euro and the Olympics and ban national clubs from competing in the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League and other UEFA-organised competitions, but the international football governing body could exclude Spain as a host from the 2030 World Cup.
As AS points out, the decision to have Spain, Portugal and Morocco host the 2030 World Cup will only truly be made official at an extraordinary congress planned for December, meaning if Spain is not able to convince FIFA and UEFA that no political interference is taking place, Portugal and Morocco could be left to organise the event on their own.
“From Switzerland, they are already reporting that Morocco and Portugal are perfectly capable of carrying out the tournament on their own, without the presence of Spain,” AS adds.
For Portugal, this opens the very real possibility of hosting the final of the World Cup.
Portuguese sports newspaper A Bola has contacted the Portuguese sports federation which has so far refused to comment.
By Michael Bruxo
michael.bruxo@portugalresident.com
