RFEF President Addresses Possible Joint Bid For 2030 World Cup

Luis Rubiales said that he knew about a proposed joint bid for the 2030 World Cup.GETTY IMAGES

Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) President Luis Rubiales said that he met with Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez in September and knew that FIFA President Gianni Infantino proposed to Sánchez the possibility of a joint bid for the 2030 World Cup, according to Fernando Carreño of MARCA. Rubiales said that Sánchez "seemed open" to the idea and offered to help. The RFEF president said, "I knew everything that Pedro Sánchez had done but I did not know he was going to make it public" (MARCA, 11/20). In London, Martyn Ziegler reported a British and Irish bid for the 2030 World Cup "may be in jeopardy after Spain’s government announced it wanted Morocco to join a three-country bid with Portugal for the tournament." If the Iberian-Moroccan bid "goes ahead it is unlikely a British-Irish rival campaign would be launched against it" (LONDON TIMES, 11/20).