Morocco has been selected to co-host the 2030 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal after a sixth attempt. FIFA’s surprise announcement the day before, a year earlier than originally planned, is a boost for the North African nation, which was hit by a devastating earthquake nearly a month ago that left thousands dead .In a statement released by the royal family the day before, King Mohammed VI congratulated co-hosts Spain and Portugal and said that “Morocco will make every effort to ensure a perfect synergy,” according to Moroccan state-run newspaper Le Matin .Soccer is one of the most popular sports in Morocco, which finished fourth at last year’s World Cup in Qatar, and the 2030 bid is its fifth in six tries, Reuters reported. Morocco made solo World Cup bids in 1994, 1998 and 2006, but lost out .Hopes were raised for the 2010 tournament when FIFA restricted applications to African nations, but the tournament was eventually awarded to South Africa as Africa’s first World Cup host .It then tried again for the 2026 tournament, but lost out to a joint bid from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Morocco then joined forces with Spain and Portugal across the Mediterranean in the Iberian Peninsula for a sixth attempt, and eventually succeeded with the support of Saudi Arabia, which decided to focus on a solo bid for the 2034 tournament instead of 2030.In particular, Morocco’s geographic proximity to Spain and Portugal was a key factor in their selection as co-hosts of the 2030 tournament, which will mark the centenary of the World Cup, the news agency noted .FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement the previous day that the joint Morocco-Spain-Portugal bid was unanimous, calling it “a message of peace, tolerance and inclusion, in which the two continents of Africa and Europe demonstrate their social and cultural cohesion, as well as their football.” In Morocco, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck near the Atlas Mountains in the southwestern part of the country on March 8, killing nearly 3,000 people and injuring more than 5,000 others when houses in mountain villages collapsed .It was the worst since the 1960 Agadir earthquake, which killed at least 12,000 people, and the strongest in more than 120 years, since observations began in 1900.Meanwhile, Morocco is working to recover and restore tourism to the country, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) hosting their annual meetings from September 9-15 in the historic city of Marrakech, 카지노사이트 which sustained some damage.
