Spain has ruled out the possibility of Morocco hosting the final of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, insisting that the tournament’s showpiece match must take place on Spanish soil.
The President of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Rafael Louzan, declared on Saturday that Spain had no intention of withdrawing its interest in hosting the final.
Spain will co-host the 2030 World Cup alongside Portugal and Morocco, but FIFA is not expected to decide the venue for the final until 2028.
Spain is proposing the iconic Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, home of Real Madrid, while Morocco is pushing for the proposed 115,000-capacity Hassan II Stadium, currently under construction in Benslimane, near Casablanca.
Portugal, meanwhile, does not currently have a stadium considered suitable to host the final.
Speaking at a conference held at the RFEF’s Ciudad del Futbol headquarters outside Madrid, Louzan maintained that Spain remained confident of securing the hosting rights.
“There is no other plan than for the final to be held in Spain,” he said.
He further dismissed suggestions that Spain could withdraw its bid, insisting that the possibility of losing the hosting rights was not being considered.
Louzan’s remarks followed comments by the leader of Spain’s right-wing People’s Party, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, who threatened to push for Spain’s withdrawal from the World Cup hosting arrangement if he became prime minister and Morocco was awarded the final.
Feijoo made the declaration during a television interview on November 5, ahead of the November 29 general election.
However, Louzan described the scenario as hypothetical, arguing that there was currently no reason for Spain to contemplate withdrawing from the joint hosting agreement.
He also maintained that Europe should host the final, citing FIFA’s tradition of rotating the continent responsible for staging the tournament’s showpiece match.
Meanwhile, the RFEF president disclosed that a team of FIFA technical experts visited several stadiums across Spain last week to assess facilities seeking to host matches at the 2030 competition.
The inspection is part of FIFA’s preparations ahead of the final selection of stadiums that will be approved to host matches during the tournament.
