FIFA has sent a five-man task force to inspect the bidders for the 2026 World Cup. They claim it’s to ensure a ‘fair and transparent’ process. But can we trust the members of this task force to be unbiased?
By Pål Ødegård
Støtt Josimar!
For å kunne drive med undersøkende journalistikk trenger vi hjelp fra våre lesere.
Gi 50 NOK: Send sms med kodeord
Eder til 2199.
Gi 100 NOK: Send sms med kodeord
Junior til 2199.
Gi 200 NOK: Send sms med kodeord
Falcao til 2199.
Gi 500 NOK: Send sms med kodeord
Socrates til 2199.
Beløpet blir belastet din telefonregning.
On April 16th a five-man FIFA task force arrived in Morocco to assess its ability to stage a 48-team World Cup in 2026. But even before they started their inspections, the local bid committee has criticized it for being biased against the Moroccan bid and in favour of the ‘United’ bid comprising of USA, Canada and Mexico. They accuse the five men of being sent by the FIFA president to kill Morocco’s bid in the bud.
The FIFA bid evaluation task force’s 4-day tour of Morocco, which concludes on Thursday the 19th, comes after a similar visit to Mexico, Canada and the US last week. Their job is to compile a report for the FIFA council where they assess the bids on a range of technical and economic criteria, ranked from 0 to 5. The FIFA council will then give their recommendations to the FIFA congress in Moscow in June, who will vote on who will get to host the 2026 World Cup. It’s the first time the congress will vote on this. It will also be an open vote, meaning the world will know who voted for which bid. There’s also a ‘none of the above’ option which, if it gains majority, will lead to the bidding process starting over again.
You must be a subscriber to read this article
Already a subscriber? Log in here
Josimar is entirely dependent on our subscribers to tell the stories from football that matter. Become a subscriber today!