By Andrew Warshaw in Casablanca
March 28 – The chairman of Morocco’s 2026 World Cup bid has issued a firm challenge to FIFA president Gianni Infantino to play fair and remain neutral when the first open vote in the modern era to select the hosts takes place in June.
With the build-up to the ballot intensifying ahead of next month’s inspection visit to both candidates by the FIFA evaluation panel, Moulay Hafid Alalamy (pictured), Morocco’s multi-millionaire minister of industry and investment, says the onus is on Infantino to show the world the organisation has turned over a new leaf when it comes to preventing any kind of behind-the-scenes political influence by those at the top.
Earlier this week when FIFA published the respective bid books, Infantino insisted that the dubious way World Cup hosts were selected in the past was over and that it was crucial FIFA “never go back to the old ways.”
Infantino is widely reported to privately be in favour of the three-nation North American bid, Morocco’s only rivals and the heavy favourites for 2026. This has not been lost on Elalamy who has made it clear that Infantino needs to ensure that recent FIFA reforms are respected.
In other words, that he remains impartial and does not use his status to unduly influence the evaluation panel’s workings or, if both contenders are given the green light to go head to head, the vote in Moscow by 207 FIFA federations.
“It’s very serious if the opinion of a president could change strategic opinions,” Elalamy told an international media briefing in Casablanca ahead of Morocco’s friendly win over Uzbekistan on Tuesday.
“I hope the values of equity and righteousness should be the values of FIFA. I think [FIFA] went through changes to achieve transparency (and) I’m convinced that these responsibilities will not allow the president to have a partial position.”
Using a footballing metaphor, Elalamy added: “It’s difficult to enter a race and say the referee or judge is not partial.”
Although the odds are stacked against the underdogs, Elalamy cannot of course admit as much. He and his team are about to step up their lobbying programme for the final push but Elalamy shows a refreshing graciousness when assessing his country’s prospects after four failed previous attempts to land the World Cup.
Expanding on the same theme, he said: “We have the potential to win and if we should lose we should accept it in the spirit of sport and none of us can have any regrets as long as the judges and referees did their job well because we know we cannot win all the time.
“I think as long as everything is clear and we are convinced that everything is transparent then the best bid will win. If our friends [from United 2026] win then we will be the first to congratulate them. We are confident in terms of our project as long as the criteria are equitable for all. This is most important for me.”
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