According to Mundo Deportivo, UEFA's strong statement this Thursday continues to reverberate. UEFA's refusal to participate in FIFA events in response to the latter's plan to open the World Cup to external investment has already impacted the Spanish Football Federation and its national teams at all levels.
First, there's the Spanish men's national football team. They weren't originally scheduled to participate in any official FIFA competitions until the 2030 World Cup, which would be co-hosted by Spain, Morocco, and Portugal. As the host nation, Spain wouldn't need to participate in the qualifiers, nor would Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
This ongoing competition could have a crucial impact on the 2030 World Cup landscape. First, there's the competition for the final venue, with Madrid's Bernabéu Stadium and Casablanca's Hassan II Stadium vying for the title.
The fact is, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is one of the few organizations that has not formally opposed Gianni Infantino's new proposal, which aims to allow private investment in the World Cup. With 54 member associations, CAF is the second largest continental football federation after UEFA, which has 55 member associations.
Just yesterday, the FIFA president attended the Throne Day event with the King of Morocco. During the event, the FIFA president highly praised Morocco.
This is exactly the opposite of UEFA's position, and the Spanish Football Federation is a member of UEFA. Initially, Spain seemed the clear favorite, especially as the world champions would host the next World Cup for the first time. However, the current situation may completely change that assessment.
As for other continental football confederations, the CONCACAF and the AFC also oppose FIFA's proposal. The Oceania Football Confederation has not yet made a clear statement. CONMEBOL's president, Alejandro Rodriguez, is a staunch supporter of a 64-team World Cup. The ongoing debate surrounding this controversy could potentially influence the future landscape of world football, the FIFA presidential election in early 2027, and the 2030 World Cup.
FIFA plans to visit Spain before the end of this year.
Against this backdrop of tension, FIFA, as the organizer of the upcoming tournament, plans to visit Spain in the coming months. In March of this year, FIFA sent a large delegation to Spain to inspect 10 of the 11 proposed venues. Subsequently, Malaga withdrew, and Deportivo La Coruña was added to the list.
During their initial two-week inspection tour, they visited and examined all the stadiums. The first week included visits to Barcelona (Camp Nou and RCDE Stadium), Zaragoza (La Romadara Stadium), and Madrid (Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and Metropolitan Stadium).
Their overall impression of those seven days was excellent; they even watched Real Madrid play Manchester City live at the Bernabéu Stadium. The following week, they visited Gran Canaria, Seville, Athletic Bilbao, and San Sebastián.
Mundo Deportivo has obtained FIFA's roadmap for the coming months. FIFA plans to return to Spain before the end of this year. Between September and December, the process will be accelerated, with a new delegation traveling to Spain, Portugal, and Morocco.
The initial key objective of this visit was to finalize the list of 20 venues, based on 11 venues in Spain (now reduced to 9), 6 in Morocco, and 3 in Portugal. The Spanish Football Federation is still pushing for Valencia and Bigo to be selected as World Cup venues, replacing Malaga and Deportivo La Coruña.
