Ukrainians wanted to host the 2030 World Cup together with Portugal and Spain. They even enlisted the support of the President of the country Vladimir Zelensky! Sports talks about the reasons for the upcoming failure of these plans.
World football bosses unhook the «carriage»Last autumn it became known that Spain, Portugal and Ukraine filed a joint application for the right to host the 2030 World Cup. The presence of the first two countries looked logical. Spaniards and Portuguese are connected by territorial proximity and culture. The inclusion of Ukraine looked like a tribute to the political trend.
The Minister of Sports of the country Vadim Gutzeit did not hide this either. He highly appreciated the chances of Ukraine to become one of the hosts of the world championship. After all, his compatriots are «supported by the whole world»! Gutzeit assured that the Ukrainians would have time to build and prepare stadiums, create the necessary infrastructure. The minister cited the successful experience of the European Championship in 2012 and the Champions League final as an example.
British media reported that Ukraine could be given at least a few group stage matches. The country's application was also supported by President Zelensky. However, almost six months have passed and completely different information has appeared. The Athletic edition stated that the chances of Ukraine to host the 2030 World Cup are now minimal. UEFA and FIFA strongly doubt that the country will have time to recover and prepare for the tournament.
A replacement has already been found. Corruption causes many questions among the leadership of world football. President of the Ukrainian Football Association (UAF) Andriy Pavelko was accused of fraud and money laundering. He has been under investigation since November last year. Obviously, all this cannot be trusted. Giving the World Cup to a country with huge problems would be suicidal for the organizers, despite all the political circumstances. The Ukrainians, apparently, did not manage to cry for such a major tournament.
There is a high probability that Morocco will be included in the application. The country is conveniently located in terms of logistics with Spain and Portugal. At the same time, she is on the rise of interest in football against the backdrop of reaching the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup. The Moroccans have long wanted to host the world championship. It looks like they are really close now.
The main rival will be the joint bid of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile. Perhaps Saudi Arabia will also join the fight, which has an unlimited amount of money, as well as a great desire to show it to the whole world. Ukraine is still out of the picture and will not become involved in the main football event of the four years.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors