One line, and it all kicks off again
“What you need to know is that the province of Benslimane will have the honour of hosting the 2030 World Cup final.”
Faouzi Lekjaa dropped that a few weeks ago. The Moroccan federation president probably had no idea how big the backlash would be. Or maybe he did.
FIFA quickly moved to pour cold water on it: no stadium has been chosen to host the 2030 World Cup final.
Since then, not much. Until this interview.
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What he is saying now
Lekjaa has returned to the issue in an interview with Jeune Afrique. The tone has shifted. The message, not so much.
“Highly contested, maybe, by the Spaniards. On the Moroccan side, true to our values, we never spoke about the final; we follow the process, we respect the procedures and the regulations,” he begins.
Then comes the diplomatic spin. “Morocco, as we explained from the start, represents Africa, so we are a continent alongside our European colleagues, represented by Spain and Portugal. We are not three countries locked in rivalry. We are working on ideas of complementarity that speak to civilisation and culture.”
And then the line that sounds an awful lot like a claim: “But we will always be there for the rights of Africa and the Kingdom of Morocco, which, in my view, have the right to stage a World Cup final for the second time in history within a century.”
One match, three countries
It is just one game. But it is the one everyone wants.
The 2030 World Cup will be co-hosted by Morocco, Spain and Portugal. Three host nations, one final to hand out. Lekjaa knows it, and he says it between the lines: this one will not be won on the pitch.
Officially, nothing has been decided. FIFA has made that crystal clear. Unofficially, the fight has been on for a long time.
And every time the FRMF chief opens his mouth, it cranks the temperature up again.
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