Diplomatic Inside
Morocco continues to score important points in its bid to host the 2025 AFCON finals after the country met FIFA’s strict preconditions for hosting an expanded FIFA World Cup.
On January 25th, 2023, the North African country became the only country to get the green light in the strict specifications of FIFA’s prerequisite criteria on sport, hospitality, healthcare and infrastructure that make a country eligible to host the FIFA World Cup under its new format of increasing from 32 to 48 teams.
This is not the first time Morocco has gotten a thumbs up after a working group of dozens of experts traveled through Morocco for several months in 2018 before awarding an above-average rating that made the Kingdom’s bid eligible for the 2026 World Cup.
The news comes just days after George Weah made loud calls from African legends for Morocco to host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals.The winner of the 1995 Ballon d’Or, who remains the only African to have been crowned the best player in the world, is a great admirer of Morocco’s massive investment in football.
“Liberia fully supports Morocco’s bid to host the CAN 2025. I made this commitment to King Mohamed VI. It’s set in stone,” Weah said in a statement released by the presidency.
Morocco benefits from one of the best football infrastructures in Africa, all the selected stadiums having received approval from FIFA (as part of the bid file for the 2026 World Cup), but also from CAF, as part of the qualifications for the World Cup and the AFCON. Besides, these 6 stadiums have the following capacities: Tangier (60,000 seats), Fez (35,000 seats), Rabat (45,000 seats), Casablanca 45,000 seats), Marrakech (45,000 seats) and Agadir (45,000 seats). Thus, the Kingdom also has the Mohammed VI Football Academy, one of the best national football centers in the world.
These cities are characterized by strong and unique identities, reflecting Morocco’s diversity and passion for football, each with its own historical, geographical and social identity. Among these cities, some located on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, are economic and tourist capitals, or historical and mountainous destinations. This diversity will not fail to offer the Africa Cup of Nations a magical setting for the show.
With a strong experience in the field of tourism (more than 12 million tourists in 2019), the Kingdom has a hotel infrastructure of high quality and in sufficient quantity (90,000 rooms distributed among the host cities) that can accommodate national teams, official delegations and supporters in favorable conditions. The accommodation offer in Morocco will enable to host all the teams in the competition by offering rates adapted to all budgets.
On the pitch, in the 2019/20 season, four of the eight semi-finalists of the Champions League and Confederations Cup were from the Moroccan league Botola Pro. Last year, Moroccan clubs won all CAF competitions. Wydad Athletic Club and RS Berkane are the reigning champions of the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup, while AS Far won the Women’s Champions League.
Morocco has become the first African country to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Their women’s national team finished second behind Banyana Banyana at last year’s Africa Cup of Nations.
Off the pitch, Morocco, like Weah, recently received praise from legendary former Bafana Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane for his football development.
“I don’t know how long it will take us, South Africa, to get to where Morocco is in terms of infrastructure and facilities to develop coaches and programs to develop players,” Mosimane said.
Former Indomitable Lions international Antoine Bell agrees with Mosimane and Weah that Morocco should host not only the AFCON, but also the World Cup in 2030. He went further and called on South Africa to support Morocco’s bid to bring the World Cup back to Africa.
Surprisingly, despite this success on and off the pitch, Morocco has yet to host an Africa Cup of Nations since 1988.