The Iberian candidacy to host the 2030 World Cup made official this afternoon at the UEFA headquarters in Nyom (Switzerland) the incorporation of Ukraine, which will contribute the Kyiv and Donetz venues to those already planned: eleven venues in Spain (there are fifteen preselected stadiums) and three Portuguese.
The event was attended by the three presidents of the respective federations: Luis Rubiales, from Hispaniola; Fernando Gomes, from the Portuguese and Andriy Pavelko, from the Ukrainian.
Luis Rubiales explained that the idea of incorporating Ukraine came from the coordination group formed when the Iberian candidacy was established. This group raised a query to UEFA, which welcomed it. Then the three governments involved were asked and all three gave their approval. "Any government, not only in Europe, must make this candidacy their own. We want to demonstrate the transforming power of football," stressed the president of the Spanish Federation.
Fernando Gomes, the first to speak, assured that "for some, including Ukraine may be something surprising and unexpected, but for us it is logical and correct. We could not remain indifferent to the Ukrainian situation. Ukraine cannot disappear from our memory," he said. .
Rubiales wanted to show how well received the idea was: "Each one of us represents Portuguese, Spanish and Ukrainian football. But as a whole we represent the transformation and the example that football can improve society. I think that in Spain everyone The world supports the integration of Ukraine in this candidacy. We are no longer the Iberian candidacy, but the European candidacy. This is a winning and peace candidacy".
FIFA plans to choose the venue for the 2030 World Cup in the first quarter of 2024. The main rival of this candidacy is the one that arises from South America, with Uruguay leading a pool that also includes Argentina, Chile and Paraguay.
For Fernando Gomes, the distance between Ukraine and the Spanish and Portuguese venues is not a problem: "In the last European Championship, matches were played in London and in Baku (Azerbaijan), from one end of the continent to the other. We believe that if it was not a problem, then It won't be a problem in 2030 either. I think this candidacy may be able to get elected. Portugal, Spain and Ukraine have already held great football competitions in their countries in an outstanding way," he recalled.
Luis Rubiales did not want to explain to what extent the incorporation of Ukraine to the Iberian bid technically affects: "Madrid will be the general headquarters, Lisbon has the administrative headquarters and we want to introduce Ukraine. Right now everything is in a very initial phase. All the details They will get to know each other in the coming months. Today we just want to give the new information, it is a day of happiness, "he said.
Security is also in the spotlight. Everyone obviously hopes that the war will end as soon as possible and hosting the World Cup will help in the reconstruction of Ukraine: "Of course, security will be the starting point for everything. The Kyiv stadium is still used, but we hope that it can also be use the one from Donetsk. Football now lives on in Ukraine", maintained Andriy Pavelko, the president of the Ukrainian Federation.
