Sam Nyamweya: Morocco and Africa should consider joint World Cup bid

Former Football Kenya Federation President Sam Nyamweya has urged African countries to consider joint World Cup bids in future.

This comes just a day after Morocco confirmed that they will bid for the 2030 World Cup after losing out in the race to host the 2026 competition.

A combined bid from the United States, Canada and Mexico won the right to host the tournament eight years from now, earning 134 votes to the African nation's 65.

The result means the tournament, being hosted in Russia this summer, will return to North America for the first time since 1994.

Morocco have made five failed bids to host the World Cup thus far, and proposed using 14 stadiums to host tournament fixtures, with the final to be held in the Grand Stade de Casablanca, a planned 93,000-seater stadium that is scheduled to be completed in 2024.

The former Kenyan football boss now believes that a joint bid will help Africa win the rights to host the tournament for the second time after South Africa staged the same in 2010.

“It is unfortunate that Morocco was representing a bid for Africa but their loss should also be a learning experience. Africa should in future present a joint bid and prove they are ready to meet the required standards,” Nyamweya said in a statement obtained by Goal.

Nyamweya however, admitted that he would have voted for the USA, Mexico and Canada bid. “Personally, if I were to be among the voters, I would have voted for the joint bid of the North American nations because of their infrastructure.

“USA, Mexico and Canada have proved they were worthy candidates and deserving winners to win the hosting rights for the championships due to the kind of infrastructure they have in place. Fifa will not have a difficult time having to monitor preparations for the 2026 competition.”

Morocco were hoping to count on the support of their continent, but 10 African countries did not vote for their bid, including South Africa and Mozambique.

Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay have also announced their intention to bid jointly to host the 2030 tournament.