No regrets backing Morocco bid - Mwendwa
What you need to know:
- The 2026 tournament will be the biggest World Cup ever held - with 48 teams playing 80 matches over 34 days.
- Mwendwa's decision to back Morocco is not surprising, as he had declared this stance back in February.
Football Kenya Federation president Nick Mwendwa says he has no regrets for rallying behind the failed Morocco bid of hosting the 2026 Fifa World Cup.
Morocco on Wednesday lost out to a joint bid fronted by the United States of America, Canada, and Mexico who will now host the global sporting showpiece in eight years' time.
Of the 211 Fifa member nations, 200 cast a vote at the 68th Fifa Congress in Moscow on Wednesday, with the winners needing a majority of 104.
The united bid garnered 134 votes, while the North African country amassed 65 votes - including the one from FKF - from the Football Association presidents present during the Fifa General Assembly in Moscow.
"We have no regrets (voting for Morocco). We agreed on an African position and stayed with it," said Mwendwa, in an interview with the Nation Sport from Moscow.
Mwendwa's stance implies the likes of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Benin, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Mozambique, Botswana, Cape Verde and Lesotho all went against a gentleman's agreement to vote for the North American bid.
Canada, Mexico, Morocco and the US were exempt from voting, while Ghana was absent after the country's government said it had disbanded its football association amid allegations of widespread corruption.
"Football is the victor. We are all united in football," US Football president Carlos Cordeiro said.
"Thank you so much for this incredible honour. Thank you for entrusting us with this privilege."
The 2026 tournament will be the biggest World Cup ever held - with 48 teams playing 80 matches over 34 days.
Mwendwa's decision to back Morocco is not surprising, as he had declared this stance back in February.
