March 6 – Now that FIFA have changed the rules on what the two bidders for the 2026 World Cup can and can’t do to promote their credentials, Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) President Fouzi Lekjaa has wasted no time rallying support from within his own confederation.
Still riled at being prevented at the 11th hour from addressing the Confederation of African Football (CAF) congress in Casablanca last month, Lekjaa chose CAF’s inaugural women’s symposium a few hundred miles away in Marrakesh to deliver a speech praising the attributes of the underdogs.
In front of an audience that included the presidents of several African federations Lekjaa insisted on the importance of 2026 being staged on African soil “which has had the privilege of organising the World Cup only once in 100 years.”
The two candidates have to submit their respective bid books to FIFA by March 16 and Morocco is reportedly highlighting short travel times between venues, affordability for the fans and a favourable time zone which could prove very attractive to broadcasters.
Whether it can persuade enough FIFA voters to back its hosting of the first 48-nation finals is of course a different matter.
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