You see the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, running towards the bathroom and think in good faith what anyone does. Basically, the football boss on planet Earth is no stranger to anything human, including stomach cramps. Only when he came out of the toilet, to the surprise of everyone and everyone, what Infantino naturally explained was that what his biology required him to plant without delay was not a pine tree but a World Cup. This is how we found out, more or less, that Spain will be co-host of the 2030 World Cup.
Infantino and the specialists of the great football industry will know the reasons why the announcement has been made public in such an indolent and cold manner. But without the preludes, always necessary to warm up anything, the news has been received like a routine radio connection to the traffic services or a very ordinary news bulletin. Will the 2030 World Cup be held in Spain? Ah, well okay.
One imagined Santiago Abascal on the news. Castellana galloping up shouting “the World Cup is Spanish, Spanish, Spanish”, to give an example. But there has been no patriotic fervor. And not only because of FIFA's negligence with the announcement.
The more than moderate reaction on all fronts is also due to the fact that the candidacy is joint. It's time to share the spotlight with Portugal and Morocco. Also with Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, which as subordinates will host an opening match each. And the most euphoric patriotism goes poorly with sharing the merits with neighbors. Either that, or we are more civilized than we commonly believe.
As it always does, FIFA has dressed its election in the pompous vocabulary of NGOs. Not cloying, the following. Three continents and six countries advancing hand in hand, brotherhood and God becoming a ball instead of flesh to unite all of us who inhabit the Earth in peace. Reading the statement makes you want to cry and experience a sincere epiphany.
We would be very happy to believe good old Infantino. Except that similar arguments will serve to justify Saudi Arabia organizing the next World Cup in 2034. The Saudis have already announced their intention to use their checkbook to buy that championship. Whether or not human rights are respected in that feudal monarchy will have no bearing whatsoever. Spoiler: they will be hosts.
Who should be congratulated in advance is Florentino Pérez. It will only take seven years for the new Santiago Bernabéu to add a second world championship final to its resume. The reader, always informed, knows that this is nothing more than a conjecture, since nothing has been confirmed about venues and matches. But tell a second spoiler: the final of the 2030 World Cup on the Realísimo field. It would be missing more.
