Racist Attacks on Soccer Star Vinícius Jr. Jeopardize Spain-Portugal-Morocco World Cup 2030 Bid

The Vinicius Jr. affair, which is making a lot of noise at the moment, risks slowing the momentum of the joint candidacy of Spain, Portugal and Morocco for the 2030 World Cup, considered the favorite. Facing the candidacy of Spain, Portugal and Morocco, there is that of Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, which is not the least, and that of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Greece. The candidacy of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru is also announced. FIFA should select a candidacy in the second half of 2024, reports NIUS.

The candidacy of Spain, Portugal and Morocco is considered the best by the specialized media for various reasons. First, the sufficient availability of hotel and transport infrastructure to guarantee the arrival and accommodation of millions of fans. Then, the low investment required to build or renovate stadiums, with Spain having the best stadiums in Europe, Portugal having renovated its for Euro 2004 and Morocco, a semi-finalist in the last World Cup in Qatar, having built several stadiums to standards in recent years.

But the United Kingdom could be a serious candidate for the 2030 World Cup. The country is one of those that has fought racism and violence in football the most in recent decades. Proof of this, the British media have commented a lot on the racist insults towards Vinicius Jr. since Sunday. Several players are concerned about racism in Spanish stadiums and would not want the 2030 World Cup to be played in Spain, indicate certain experts in the sector.

"FIFA is extremely politically correct. And it’s possible that it doesn’t look favorably on these episodes that, unfortunately, are repeated in the stadiums of Spain," explains Martín Voogd, head of the Sports section of the famous Argentine newspaper "Clarín". And he adds: "In fact, Infantino (the FIFA president) was one of the first to come out to support Vinícius Jr. with a message of solidarity on his social networks".