It is now claimed that Morocco's bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup failed due to United States president Donald Trump threatening sanctions against certain countries.
The 2026 World Cup is set to be the first held in three different nations, with the US, Canada, and Mexico chosen as hosts.
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FIFA confirmed that Morocco also submitted an official bid to host the tournament in 2026, but they lost out to North America's three big countries.
Morocco has since been awarded the rights to stage the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal.
Pascal Boniface, the director of the Institute of International and Strategic Relations (IRIS), says that Morocco was unfairly treated in its attempt to host the World Cup alone in 2026 due to Trump's imposing influence on the voting process to stage the tournament, which occurred during the US president's first term in office.
"Morocco has all the assets needed to successfully host this World Cup, thanks to its infrastructure, hotels, and stadiums, particularly the upcoming grand stadium in Casablanca, which will be one of the largest stadiums in the world," Boniface said, according to Le360 Sports.
"There was an injustice when Morocco was unable to host the 2026 World Cup, despite presenting a better bid.
"That World Cup was stolen due to unacceptable pressures from Donald Trump, who threatened to sanction countries that didn't vote for the United States-Canada-Mexico trio.
"It was the first time, in the allocation of a global sporting competition, that we saw the president of a candidate country exert this kind of pressure. Unfortunately, some countries gave in."
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By Lukhanyo Mtuta
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