FIFA has officially denied claims that the 2030 World Cup final was promised to Morocco over Madrid in an effort to secure African support ahead of the upcoming elections. These reports, originally published by The Times, suggested that FIFA president Gianni Infantino was leveraging the allocation of the final match to Casablanca as a strategic move to win backing from the continent’s football federations.
At the heart of this controversy lies an alleged agreement with the Confederation of African Football (CAF), which represents 54 member federations. According to the reports, FIFA would award the final to Casablanca instead of the traditional European front-runners, Madrid or Barcelona, both of which appear prominently in FIFA’s official bid evaluation dossier.
Political Maneuvering Amid Crisis
In the face of a mounting crisis, Infantino convened a private meeting in Rabat with his closest advisers to reassess his position and devise a strategy to recover lost political ground. His standing suffered after a failed attempt to sell a 20% stake in the World Cup and other FIFA-run events to various investment funds, one of which was reportedly connected to former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Employing the venue of the 2030 World Cup final as political leverage would represent a significant departure from past expectations. The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid has long been viewed as the favored location for the final, largely due to Infantino’s close relationship with Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez. This alliance had positioned Madrid as the leading candidate in the bid process.
However, Infantino’s increasingly close ties with Morocco and King Mohammed VI have introduced uncertainty into the selection process, threatening Madrid’s favored status. Such a shift could be interpreted as a strategic effort to consolidate support within the African football community, a crucial voting bloc ahead of the FIFA presidential election scheduled for March 18.