New Revelations Suggest Morocco Lost 2010 World Cup Bid Due to Corruption

"The 2010 World Cup was bought by South Africa. [...] The South Africans bought it. They paid, especially the people of the Caribbean and North America," said French journalist Romain Molina during an "X" (ex-Twitter) Space. According to him, Morocco was completely duped in 2010. "It was Morocco that was supposed to be the first African country to have a World Cup. But not South Africa," reveals the specialist and author of several books on football.

To support his argument, Molina recalls the creation by the South African government of a fund to assist the African diaspora. This fund "was managed by people who were the most powerful in world football," he continues, adding that the most delicious part of the story is that FIFA was giving money to South Africa. "And South Africa had asked FIFA to withdraw a few million that were supposed to go to them to pay for this fund. In short, to bribe."

This is not the first time that revelations have been made about the organization of the 2010 World Cup. In 2015, the Sunday Times revealed that Morocco had been robbed of the 2010 World Cup in favor of South Africa. That same year, the New York Times had conducted an investigation showing South Africa’s involvement in the corruption of several FIFA officials to win the hosting of this global event. According to the American daily, the South African government would have paid $10 million to Chuck Blazer, a member of FIFA’s executive committee, and his collaborators so that they would vote in favor of South Africa.