Bid for the 2030 World Cup: Lekjaa at the helm

Morocco’s bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup is beginning to take shape. At the organizational level, it is Fouzi Lekjaa who will be in charge. HM the King has just appointed the president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) to chair the committee in charge of this candidacy, prepared jointly with Spain and Portugal. Morocco had announced its intention to present a new dossier for hosting this planetary event, last March, on the occasion of the presentation, in Kigali, of the CAF Excellence Prize, awarded to the Sovereign. “ Being unprecedented in the history of football, this joint candidacy will be that of the junction between Africa and Europe, between the North and the South of the Mediterranean, and between the African, Arab, and Euro-Mediterranean worlds. It will also be a candidacy for gathering around the best on both sides, and the demonstration of an alliance of genius, creativity, experience and means ”, underlined the Sovereign. Today, the appointment of Fouzi Lekjaa at the head of this committee is a consecration of his career in the management of football at the national and continental level. The idea is to capitalize on the achievements, in particular the performance of national teams and Moroccan clubs at the African and world level. Moroccan clubs, especially WAC, Raja, and RSB, have become regulars in the finals of continental competitions, the feats of the futsal selection, and the women’s selection (which is playing the World Cup in a few weeks), confirm the new positioning of Morocco as a hub of African football. In the conduct of the Moroccan candidacy, Lekjaa succeeds personalities like Driss Benhima and Saâd Kettani, who had been in charge of this mission. Today, Fouzi Lekjaa  is expected to prepare a solid case, in partnership with the co-organizers, Spain and Portugal. Though in the opinion of several experts, the candidacy of Morocco and its Iberian partners has a good chance of winning the organization of the 2030 World Cup, we should also expect strong competition from Saudi Arabia, which is also about to enter the race. For now, Riyadh has not yet officially announced its candidacy.

M.A.M.