A Spanish parliamentary group has formally asked the government to call for a review of Morocco's role as co-host of the 2030 football World Cup, citing what it called the «serious events» at the border of the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. The left-wing platform Sumar filed a non-legislative motion in Congress urging Madrid to seek a specific evaluation of the joint organization model that currently includes Morocco, Portugal and Spain.
The motion, backed by three deputies from Izquierda Unida within Sumar and a fourth member of the parliamentary group, asks the government to communicate to FIFA, the Royal Spanish Football Federation and the Portuguese government the need to re-examine the arrangement. Sumar argues that hosting the World Cup mobilizes public resources, involves state guarantees, shapes investment and infrastructure decisions and projects an international image of the host countries. For that reason, it says, all partners in the event should show continuous and effective respect for human rights, international law and democratic principles.
In the proposal, Sumar calls on the government to ask the Spanish football federation to activate FIFA's institutional mechanisms for reviewing compliance with its statutes and human rights policy. It also requests an independent, public and up-to-date study of human rights risks in host countries, to be submitted to Congress within six months. The party further wants FIFA to reform its procedures for awarding and monitoring major competitions by inserting clauses guaranteeing human rights protection and by making it possible to review or withdraw host status in cases of serious violations.
At the same time, Sumar demands a full clarification of the events at the Ceuta border, including the identification of people who died or went missing, the assignment of responsibility and the creation of effective early warning systems, child protection mechanisms and life-saving measures. The move follows days of crisis in which, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry, about 72,000 people entered Ceuta irregularly from Morocco starting on July 30. The ministry said roughly 70,000 of them had already returned to their country.
Portugal's left-wing ecology party Livre has made a similar call. It has sent a letter to the Portuguese government and the Portuguese Football Federation arguing that Morocco should no longer take part in the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal. «The participation of Morocco in the co-organization of the 2030 World Football Championship together with Portugal and Spain has become unsustainable,» Livre said.
The party accused the Moroccan regime of decades of systematic human rights violations against its own people, of denying self-determination and of violently repressing the Sahrawi people. It added that the use of Moroccan citizens in Ceuta, including minors, as part of what it described as an attack on Spain's borders confirmed that there were no conditions for loyal cooperation. Livre deputy Jorge Pinto said the events in Ceuta showed that the decision to include Morocco must be reevaluated. «A regime that uses borders as an instrument of political pressure does not meet the conditions to be a partner in organizing an event that depends on cooperation, trust and free movement between countries,» he said.
The 2030 World Cup is scheduled to be staged mainly by Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay hosting the opening matches of their own national teams as a tribute to the centenary of the first World Cup, played in 1930 in Montevideo.