By David Gold
August 10 – Argentina and Uruguay moved a step closer to formalising a joint bid to host the World Cup in 2030 when the two countries’ respective Presidents formed a bilateral commission to promote the prospective bid.
There has been intense speculation that the neighbours and football rivals would team up to host the contest, which would mark the World Cup’s 100th anniversary.
A joint Argentine-Uruguayan bid could be seen as fitting for the centenary tournament, given that Uruguay hosted and won the first World Cup, beating Argentina in the final 4-2.
Both the Argentine and Uruguayan national and club teams are great rivals on the pitch, with the national sides facing each other last month in the Copa America quarter final, where the Uruguayans won on penalties.
Uruguay went on to win the tournament and set a new record for the most Copa America triumphs – an achievement made more enjoyable by the fact that it was done on Argentine soil.
The joint bid commission will include Argentine President Cristina Fernández and her Uruguayan counterpart José Mujica, as well as cabinet members of both countries and prominent football leaders.
They could face competition for the 2030 tournament from a bid comprised of 10 small South East Asian countries – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Those 10 countries have also formed a commission to promote their bid, but the prospect of a Chinese bid for the World Cup in 2026, if successful, could make it unlikely that the competition would be hosted in the same region twice in a row.
But Argentina and Uruguay would be likely to face some form of European competition if China were to win the right to host the 2026 tournament, as in such a situation, that region would have only hosted one of the previous five World Cups.
“For too many decades we have lived with our backs turned to each other in Latin America, always looking toward Europe, always admiring what’s far away,” Mujica said.
“Now the time has come to take notice that our future will be determined with our neighbours, that we suffer from the same difficulties, and that we escape them together or not at all.”
Fernández added: “One of the keys is not only dialogue and integration, but also association, because being a member helps all sides win.”
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