According to The Times, Gianni Infantino has offered Morocco the chance to stage the 2030 World Cup final in Casablanca. Spain and Portugal, the other host countries, would then miss out.
In return for the final, Infantino is said to have asked for the support of the Moroccan federation in the current crisis within FIFA. According to The Times, he wants a written declaration of support from the federation.
Infantino has been under heavy fire for some time. His plan to give private investors a stake in FIFA’s biggest tournaments failed completely and may cost him his job.
UEFA and CONCACAF, North America, Central America and the Caribbean, quickly came out strongly against Infantino. The Asian Football Confederation, AFC, also swiftly joined the opposition to him.
On Wednesday, Infantino held crisis talks with the leading officials of the Moroccan football federation, with Morocco, like Spain and Portugal, set to host a large part of the 2030 World Cup.
He hopes Morocco’s written support will help him survive as FIFA president, although his position appears to have become slowly but surely untenable because of the massive worldwide criticism.
The Times writer Martyn Ziegler, who broke the news of Infantino’s investment plan, writes that Infantino is not currently thinking of resigning and is doing everything he can to keep his job.
That is why he has offered to have the 2030 World Cup final played at the brand-new Hassan II Stadium in Casablanca, in exchange for support. Spain, meanwhile, believe the World Cup final should be played in that country.
Candidates for the FIFA presidency for the period between 2027 and 2031 can register with FIFA until 18 November. The new president will be announced on 18 May in Rabat, Morocco.
Among those being mentioned as possible successors to Infantino are Canadian Victor Montagliani, president of CONCACAF, and AFC president Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa.
Saudi Arabia, remarkably, have not yet taken a position on Infantino. The country’s national football federation will first appoint a successor to Yasser Al-Misehal on 30 August.
Al-Misehal stepped down as president of the Saudi football federation after the elimination at the World Cup. Once a successor has been appointed, an official response from the country is expected.
FIFA deny that the reporting by The Times is correct. “It is incorrect and misleading to state that the FIFA president has made a commitment about the location of the 2030 World Cup final. FIFA will make a decision on this at an appropriate time,” a spokesperson for world football’s governing body said.
