The lyrics of the theme music for the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosted by South Africa, clearly said – It’s time for A-f-r-i-c-a! The North African Arab nation of Morocco believes this completely. It is bidding seriously to host the 2026 World Cup.
To this end, a delegation from the Morocco 2026 World Cup Bid Committee met with the presidents of member-associations in Accra, Ghana, last Tuesday, to outline details of the bid and win their support for the hosting rights of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The other contender is the joint bid, USA-Canada-Mexico.
The delegation included three Government officials namely Ms. Lamia Boutaleb, Secretary of State for Tourism, Rkia Derham, Secretary of State for Foreign Trade and Charafat Afailal, Secretary of State for Water. Packing top Moroccan government officials in the delegation highlights King Mohammed VI’s resolve to make Morocco the second African country to host the Mundial after South Africa in 2010.
The officials presented to the Heads of the Football Federations who attended the meeting the advantages of the Moroccan bid and emphasized the need for a united Africa towards their bid. As Ms. Boutaleb put it, “We want to host the World Cup for Africa because we deserve it. And we want to show the world what Africa is capable of doing. Morocco guarantees a minimum of $ 6.1 billion from TV rights and marketing revenues. Win or lose, let’s show the world that Africa is united”.
Some African federations are already seeing it that way. “We have decided to support Morocco. For us, it’s an African bid,” the president of the National Football Association of Swaziland, Adam Mthetwa, assured on behalf of other Federation heads.
Cameroon legend, Joseph Antoine Bell, an ambassador for the Morocco 2026 World Cup Bid, concurred, “I am proud to support Morocco’s bid – not because they are my brothers – but because it is excellent. We have the best performance, we have the best bid. The World Cup in South Africa was one of the most successful despite the pessimism displayed by some at the beginning. It will be the same for Morocco”. Many observers believe him.
