Ex-Fifa chief Blatter expresses support for Morocco World Cup bid

Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter says his 'heart still beats for Africa'

Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter believes Morocco should stage the 2026 World Cup because of the logistical challenges thrown up by the joint bid from Canada/Mexico/United States.

Blatter told reporters this week that joint bids are a "nightmare".

"If Morocco is able to organise this World Cup with 48 teams, then it must be chosen," said 82-year-old Blatter.

"After the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, we (concluded) that co-organisation was a nightmare," he said.

"We decided that as long as we had a single nomination, it would be privileged."

The 82-year-old was expanding on views that he had previously outlined on social media last month, when he had described Morocco as 'the logical choice' to host.

There has been no co-hosted World Cup since 2002, with Germany, South Africa and Brazil all staging by themselves in 2006, 2010 and 2014 respectively.

Under the proposed plans of the triple bid, the United States would host 60 of the 80 matches, with Canada and Mexico hosting 10 games each.

The United States will stage all knock-out games from the quarter-finals onwards.

Morocco, meanwhile, is set to emphasise its compact nature and small travelling distances when it hands over its formal bid book later this month.

Both Morocco and the Canada/Mexico/United States must submit their 2026 World Cup bid books by 16 March.

The 2026 finals will be the first to feature 48 teams, 16 more than the tally that will contest both this year's tournament in Russia and the 2022 event in Qatar.

The North African nation is making a fifth bid to host the World Cup, having failed to land the 1994, 1998, 2006 and 2010 editions.

Since none of the bidding nations are eligible to vote, Morocco will need to win 104 votes when the decision on who will host the 2026 finals is made in Russia on 13 June.

Earlier this week, the joint Canada-Mexico-US bid announced a reshuffle of its leadership, emphasising diversity as its leaders seek to attract voters.

The leaders of the US, Canada and Mexico federations will now serve as co-chairs of the bid, replacing former United States Soccer Federation chief Sunil Gulati, who steps down.

United 2026 said the changes reflect the "unity" at the highest levels of the joint bid, while some have seen the change in leadership as a strategic move to shift the perception of the bid as being a largely American-driven enterprise.

Blatter, who led Fifa for 17 years before being barred for ethics violations (that he is contesting) in 2015, was a central figure in organising the rotation system that eventually took the World Cup to Africa for the first time in 2010.

His extensive reign was ended when he was barred for ethics violations amid the biggest corruption scandal that world football's governing body had ever seen.

The Swiss still hopes that Fifa's ethics committee will reconsider his case and lift his six-year ban from the sport.