Morocco's bid committee said that it would need to spend almost $16B to prepare to host the 2026 World Cup, with "every proposed stadium and training ground built from scratch or renovated," according to Rob Harris of the AP. With less than three months to go until the FIFA vote, the north African nation "presented the first significant details of its proposal" to take on the North American bid. That bid "plans to rely on existing infrastructure," including large NFL stadiums already hosting events. For the first time, a "high-risk bid" that does not meet FIFA's expectations on facilities and profit can be disqualified before the governing body's congress votes on June 13. When FIFA officials score the bids, infrastructure -- of which half relates to stadiums -- will account for 70% of the panel's mark. The remaining 30% is "based on projected costs and revenues." For $3B, Morocco said that it "can build nine stadiums, refurbish five others and build or renovate 130 training grounds." That is part of the $12.6B in public investment that "also requires hospital services being upgraded in 20 cities and transport networks improved for the World Cup after the jump from 32 to 48 participating nations." The bid said that another $3.2B of private investment is "required to build hotels containing around 30,000 rooms" (AP, 3/17). The BBC reported Morocco has promised a "compact" tournament. All the host cities are within a 550km radius of Casablanca and a maximum 75-minutes flight time apart. A "Legacy Modular Stadium" concept also means that "some of the stadia can be downscaled after the tournament" (BBC, 3/17).
