Two political parties in Iberia have asked for an examination about the participation of Morocco in organizing the 2030 World Cup.
The tournament is set to kick off in South America before the bulk of matches are hosted in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. But the Sumar party in Spain and Livre party in Portugal both suggested Wednesday, Aug. 5 that the neighbors should proceed without Morocco in the wake of the migration crisis in Ceuta.
A massive rush of more than 50,000 migrants from Morocco to the North African enclave long controlled by Spain in less than a day caused chaos and resulted in dozens of deaths. While most migrants now have returned to Morocco, the diplomatic situation between Morocco and the mainland European countries is strained.
The Spanish party, which holds 26 of 350 seats in the Spanish parliament, wrote to the government asking for the Spanish FA, FIFA and the Portuguese executive about "the necessity to carry out a revision and specific evaluation of the current model of joint organization."
That joins calls from LIVRE, a Portuguese left-wing green party, which has frequently criticized Morocco for its position on the disputed Western Sahara region. The party sent a letter to Luís Montenegro, Portugal's prime minister and Pedro Proença, the president of the Portuguese Football Federation.
The migration rush, "confirms that there are neither the conditions nor the political guarantees of security and loyal cooperation between Morocco, Spain and Portugal to maintain co-organization," the party states in its letter. "The governments of Portugal and Spain, together with the EU and UEFA, must make it clear that, as originally envisaged, it is only between Portugal and Spain that the conditions for hosting the event are met.
"If both countries meet – as they do – all the requirements for co-hosting the 2030 World Cup, they must not be disadvantaged and should remain as co-hosts”
The move comes as embattled FIFA president Gianni Infantino was in Morocco for crunch talks with his leadership team. The Times of London reported that Infantino dangled the possibility of awarding the 2030 final to Morocco in return for the Moroccan federation's continued support of his presidency.
The location of the final is expected to be a topic of much discussion, with renovated stadiums in Spain's two largest cities, Madrid and Barcelona, competing with a brand-new stadium in Casablanca being designed to be among the largest soccer stadiums in the world.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Spain, Portugal political parties call for examination of Morocco as World Cup host
