FIFA approves the requirements for organizing the 2030 World Cup | sports

On Friday, the FIFA Council approved a summary of the specifications that must be met by the candidates who choose to organize the 2030 World Cup. After the recent resignation of Saudi Arabia, the two proposals still in the race to host the World Cup in seven years are Spain, Portugal and Morocco on the one hand, and Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay on the one hand. other. The preferred candidate, because of the advanced work that had been done, was the one led by the Spaniards and the Portuguese. After the failed attempt to enhance the chances of success by annexing Ukraine, Morocco’s entry was key to favoring the candidacy. The participation of the Ukrainians is still up in the air due to problems with the justice of their country and the president of their federation, Andriy Pavelko. There is no regulation preventing Ukraine from hosting the World Cup for these reasons, but its accession is still up in the air.

Among the main requirements approved by the FIFA Council is the provision of 14 stadiums, of which seven must already be built. In addition, the stadiums hosting the opening and final matches must have a capacity of at least 80,000 people. The president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, announced months ago in spar From Cadena Ser there is a good chance that the Santiago Bernabéu will be the stadium that will host the first match and the final. The stadiums hosting the first stage matches must have a capacity of 40,000 seats and 60,000 seats for the semi-finals. Each candidate must present 72 training camps in order to be able to select the 48 participating teams.

In addition, the FIFA Council has also approved the tax policy to be assumed by the organizers, based on the fact that double taxation cannot occur. “The brief has been approved to allow interested member associations to better understand the requirements for hosting the competition, including with regard to the infrastructure required, the legal framework to be established and the environmental and social objectives to be pursued,” read a note from FIFA.

In July 2022, the Spanish Football Federation presented 15 Spanish stadiums that were eligible to host World Cup matches. The chosen ones were: Pallados in Vigo; Riazor in A Coruña; Molinón Enrique Castro Quini, in Gijón; San Mamés in Bilbao; Anoeta, in San Sebastian; La Romareda in Zaragoza; Camp Nou and Rcde Stadium in Barcelona; the Santiago Bernabéu and the Metropolitano in Madrid; the New Mestalla, in Valencia; the new residential complex in Murcia; Cartuja in Seville; La Rosaleda in Malaga and Gran Canaria Stadium in Las Palmas.

The Portuguese favorite has three stadiums that could clearly choose to host matches, Jose Alvalade and Da Luz in Lisbon and Do Dragao in Porto. Morocco, for its part, which has already submitted a bid to host it in 2026, already owns five existing stadiums: the Marrakesh Grand Stadium, the Adrar Stadium (Agadir), the Fez Stadium, the Prince Moulay Abdallah Stadium (Rabat), the Ibn Battuta Stadium (Tangier), which She was to be updated if she had been elected on that occasion. Morocco has also chosen to host the 2025 Africa Cup, so it has also made progress on the infrastructure.

This triple nomination faces the nomination of the four South American countries. Its great strength is that the event coincides with the centenary of the first World Cup held in Uruguay in 1930. “I think what happened to the Under-20 World Cup is a model of what we can do with Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile in 2030. Those who were in the meetings With Infantino they can really see that he feels a lot better and he left with a very encouraging concept of what’s to come,” defended Ernesto Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association, yesterday. It will be between September and October when the nomination period officially opens. The elections will be in the last quarter of 2024.

The United States will host the new Club World Cup in 2025

The FIFA Council also agreed that the new Club World Cup, which will have 32 participants, will be held in the United States in the summer of 2025. The event will serve as an organizational test bed with the aim of the World Cup for the teams that will participate in it. One year later, the United States was one of the organizers along with Canada and Mexico.

This new format of the Club World Cup has been one of Gianni Infantino’s big bets since he became head of world football’s governing body in February 2016. The Italian-Swiss president considered that FIFA only organizes one major event every four years – the men’s World Cup at the national level. Teams – which gave him a small income. This new model, which was initially opposed by UEFA, would have 12 European clubs, 6 from South America, 4 African, 4 Asian, 4 Central American, one from Oceania and the last place corresponding to the country organizing it.

You can follow EL PAÍS Sports on Facebook And Twitteror register here to receive Weekly newsletter.