November 5 – Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Romania are considering an unlikely joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup.
The decision was taken following a high-level meeting between officials of the four countries and was apparently initiated by Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras.
Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov told local media on the sidelines of a regional meeting in the Black Sea resort of Varna that the idea was “worth discussing” but it is in fact a non-starter.
Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay are putting in a three-nation South American bid to mark what would be the centenary of the competition whilst a joint United Kingdom-Republic of Ireland bid is also in the pipeline and Morocco, which has failed five times, says it is trying again for 2030 either with Algeria and Tunisia or with Spain and Portugal.
No Balkan country has never hosted the World Cup and a more realistic consideration for a Balkan bid would be the 2028 Euros, eight years after Romania’s capital Bucharest hosts four matches of Euro 2020.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic says this is also being considered whilst a Bulgarian government spokeswoman confirmed it has been discussed.
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