Ex-FIFA president Sepp Blatter snubs US World Cup bid and endorses Morocco

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has endorsed Morocco’s bid to host the 2026 World Cup. (REUTERS)

LONDON: Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has endorsed Morocco’s bid to host the 2026 World Cup over the joint bid from the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Blatter tweeted on Thursday that “Morocco would be the logical host! And it is time for Africa again!”
While chief of football’s governing body, the Swiss pushed for the 2010 World Cup to be staged in South Africa.
Referencing the rival joint bid from the US, Canada, and Mexico, Blatter tweeted “co-Hosting rejected by FIFA after 2002.”
South Korea and Japan co-hosted the event in 2002, the only time the World Cup has been staged in more than one country.
Since then Nigeria has wanted to co-host the showpiece with its neighbors Benin, Ghana, and Togo. At the time Blatter was still FIFA boss and said that the body would not consider any future co-hosts except in “exceptional circumstances.”
Blatter’s 17-year reign as FIFA president ended in disgrace in 2015 amid the fallout from American prosecutors charging dozens of soccer officials with corruption, including World Cup vote buying.
Blatter is serving a six-year ban from soccer following the discovery of an uncontracted salary of $2 million to one-time adviser Michel Platini.