Why Spain is Threatening To Walk Away From The 2030 World Cup | First Sports With Rupha Ramani

0:00 Spain has threatened to walk away from the 2030 World Cup. One of the three principal host countries for the tournament has now said it could pull out entirely [music] if it does not get the right to host the World Cup final. And that is not just a big threat. It is a remarkable one. A World Cup that will be co-hosted by Spain, Morocco, and Portugal. Why has the statement been made? What is at stake here? And can Spain actually pull off this threat? What does hosting a final come with? Why the clamor for it? There is a reason countries fight so hard to host a World Cup final. Because you are no not just hosting a match. You're hosting a night the world will go on to remember. Think about the 2026

0:46 FIFA World Cup final that happened in June July. Spain went up against Argentina. More than 80,000 people packed into that stadium. Millions watched around the world. You saw the trophy. There were the celebrations, the drama of it all. That's the scale of the honor Spain and Morocco clearly at this point are fighting over for 2030 because we've not heard from Portugal yet. [music] Because the final is not just another match. It is the biggest night of the

1:33 tournament. It brings the biggest global audience. Tens of thousands of traveling fans hotels restaurants airlines transport, retail, and then of course there is the value that is much harder to put a number on. Global exposure. Your city becomes the backdrop to the biggest match in football. Your stadium becomes part of its history and your country gets to showcase itself to the world. Now, this is not to say hosting a World Cup final is some guaranteed financial jackpot. FIFA controls a huge amount of the tournament's commercial revenue. So, hosting is also expensive. But countries don't bid for these events only for the immediate financial returns. They bid for tourism, for infrastructure, for global visibility,

2:19 prestige, and legacy. Spain has just taken this argument to a very different level. Spain's opposition leader Alberto Nunees has [music] said that if Morocco gets the World Cup final, then Spain should withdraw as a co-host altogether. He's even said that if he were to be in power, he would seek to pull Spain entirely [music] out. If Morocco ends up hosting the final, Spain should leave the organization. The World Cup final belongs to Spain. The world's top footballing nation is not humiliated. >> Now, Spain is not hosting this World Cup alone. Like I mentioned, Portugal and Morocco are co-host. The tournament has

3:05 already been awarded to them and the final venue though has not. FIFA will decide that in due course. Even so, that is a pretty flippant thing to say about an event of this scale. And there is another irony here. Spain has spent the last few years dealing with the problem of over tourism. Barcelona has seen major protests against mass tourism. Residents have complained about overcrowding, housing pressures, and the strain millions of visitors put on the local infrastructure. And yet, when it is the World Cup final, that tourism suddenly becomes a very different proposition. Because this is the kind of event that can put a city on the map for generations to come. Morocco, meanwhile, has made its position very clear. It wants the final. And why wouldn't it?

3:51 Look at what Morocco just achieved with [music] the Africa Cup of Nations. 24 teams, 52 matches, six cities, nine [music] stadiums. An enormous logistical exercise. And they triumphed. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Yes, the AFCON final itself ended with a lot of controversy. There were ugly scenes that played out, those lengthy interruptions. But look at the larger picture here. Morocco has invested

4:37 heavily in stadiums, transport, tourism, infrastructure. Five of the six stadiums being considered for the 2030 World Cup are linked to that wider infrastructure program. And then of course there is the proposed Hassan 2 stadium near Casablanca, a planned 115,000 seat venue. If completed as planned, it would be one of the most spectacular football stadiums on the planet. Moroccan Football Federation President Fuzy Leja in an event in September had even claimed that Casablanca would have loved the honor of hosting the 2013 World Cup final. Despite the matter not being discussed with the other two hosts, FIFA's response back then was that they will be visiting all cities in the three countries to decide who to award the

5:24 final two. So, if Spain wishes to host the final, they need to make a case for it. Talk about Spain's football history. Talk about its infrastructure. Talk about its experience of hosting major sporting events. Make FIFA believe Spain is the best place for the biggest game. But threatening to withdraw from the entire World Cup because someone else might get the final. That is where this argument starts to look less like ambition and more like entitlement. Because the 2013 World Cup is much bigger than one match, bigger than one city, and certainly bigger than who gets the last game. The final should absolutely be fought for, but fight for it with a proposal, with a sense of ambition and infrastructure, a vision in

6:10 mind. It has to be with an argument that convinces FIFA. Truth is, you you do not host a World Cup just because you are entitled to the final or you're defending champions. You host it because you want to welcome the world. And if Spain genuinely believes it is the best place for football's biggest night in 2030, [music] then they need to win the argument and not by threats. [music] >> Hi, my name is Josh Barnes. I am the international foodie. >> I can't wait to try his food. Let's go. [music] Wow. This is a top level restaurant. >> Genuinely is the nicest [music] feeling.

7:01 >> But here is something completely different. [music] This is unbelievable food. The world moves fast. Power shifts, unexpected developments, [music] changing alliances. Every day brings a new headline. But headlines are only the beginning. Because behind [music] every story, there is context. There are consequences and there are questions worth asking. Find the answers. Understand the [music] story. take on the world. This is him soya for first post vantage.