Fundraising event at Athletic Bilbao stadium, to raise money destined to Saharawi refugees suffering of famine through Development NGO PTM - Mundubat. Picture by Western Sahara / Flickr.com. Some rights reserved (CC BY-SA 2.0).A day before the first ball is kicked in Moscow to launch World Cup 2018, FIFA members will for the first time vote in public to decide the host of the 2026 tournament. High-ranking football executives at FIFA and the continental confederations widely consider Morocco’s 2026 World Cup – once considered a pipe dream – to be a serious rival to the joint North American bid of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The next two tournaments – in Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 respectively – have caused controversy for everything from human rights abuses to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and ongoing slaughter of civilians in Syria. This downward trend will continue if Morocco lands the tournament in 2026 despite its occupation of Western Sahara.
The territory to Morocco’s south has suffered under more than four decades of colonial rule. Last year, FIFA adopted a “human rights policy” in a bid to repair its reputation for corruption and indifference to human suffering, but it has a long way to go to demonstrate that it is actually changing its ways. Although FIFA required 2026 bidders to commission and submit an independent human rights report, Morocco has denied repeated requests from the Associated Press to release it. Morocco’s brutal oppression of the people of Western Sahara is well documented – Freedom House has Western Sahara at the bottom of its “not free” list and human rights abuses are a daily reality. Monitoring groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have been banned from the territory. Awarding Morocco the World Cup would prolong this injustice by sending a message to Morocco that it can proceed with business as usual.
In the race to land the tournament, the North American coalition has significant advantages: the lobbying power of three countries, abundant venues, and a proven track record hosting major international sporting events. But Morocco is the better location for TV coverage in Europe and the Middle East, and its compact geography and single currency sidestep the logistical headaches of its sprawling cross-border rival.
