2030 World Cup: Fifa to 'mitigate environmental impact' of tournament
- Published
Lionel Messi's Argentina are the current world champions
Fifa says it will "take all required measures to mitigate the environmental impact" of the 2030 World Cup.
The governing body was criticised after announcing the tournament will be held across six countries in three continents
Spain, Portugal and Morocco are the co-hosts, with the opening three matches in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.
"For 101 games, the tournament will be played in a footprint of neighbouring countries," Fifa said.
"Three games will take place in South America, also in neighbouring countries in close geographic proximity to mark the 100th year of the tournament, in a unique celebration.
"Fifa will take all required measures to mitigate the environmental impact.
"From a sustainability point of view, it's also worth mentioning that only one bid significantly reduces travel in relation to site inspection visits and other meetings."
The decision still needs to be ratified at a Fifa congress next year.
Fifa's decision to host the tournament across multiple continents comes after the governing body 'made false statements' about the reduced environmental impact of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Fifa said the tournament would be the first "fully carbon-neutral World Cup" but could not provide proof the claims were accurate.
In November, BBC Sport reported how environmentalists called Fifa's carbon-neutral claim "dangerous and misleading" and warned the tournament could have had a carbon footprint three times greater than stated.
Freddie Daley, a researcher for Global Economy Policy at the University of Sussex, says Fifa's decision to expand the World Cup across three continents is "concerning" after its false promises on reducing carbon footprint.
"A World Cup of this size and scale will involve a lot of air travel, a lot of fan travel, a lot of athlete travel and I am very unsure whether Fifa will be able to deliver this in a sustainable and climate friendly way," said Daley.