Eleven stadiums. That is the final number of sports venues that Spain will present to FIFA for the joint bid for the 2030 World Cup together with Morocco, which will offer six, and Portugal, which will provide three. In Spain, they will be Anoeta (Donostia-San Sebastián), Camp Nou (Barcelona), Gran Canaria (Las Palmas), La Cartuja (Seville), La Rosaleda (Málaga), Metropolitano (Madrid), Nueva Romareda (Zaragoza), RCDE Stadium (Barcelona, Cornellá-El Prat), Riazor (A Coruña), San Mamés (Bilbao) and Santiago Bernabéu (Madrid), according to a statement from the Royal Spanish Football Federation.
The RFEF has also made public the number of sub-venues, a total of 45, following the work carried out over the last two years by the Executive Committee for our country of the joint candidacy with Morocco and Portugal, in which the Government is integrated through the CSD. To define the venues, says the Federation, “all possibilities have been analysed, including that of increasing to 13, an option that must be taken unanimously by the three federations and which was proposed last June by the CSD, after almost two years of joint work”. This possibility would open the door for the Nou Mestalla (Valencia) and Balaídos (Vigo) to be added to the list.
However, the RFEF points out that “both the Moroccan Federation and the Portuguese Football Federation have considered that FIFA regulations must be respected, which establish a maximum of 20 venues, which means that Spain will have 11 venues.” The criteria for selecting the venues has taken into account “aspects such as the technical project, operation, financial structure and endowment of the host cities, in addition to compliance with the documentary and contractual requirements.” Once the dossier has been presented, FIFA will confirm on December 11, at its General Assembly, the joint candidacy of Morocco, Portugal and Spain. In a later phase, it will determine the venues that will form part of the organization of the championship in a definitive manner.
Regarding the 45 proposed sub-venues or Team Base Camps (TBC in FIFA terminology), the RFEF indicates that they will be located in 16 autonomous communities. Or put another way, in all except Aragon there will be at least one sub-venue, although the Aragonese community will have the La Romareda stadium in Zaragoza as its venue. “The final decision on the use of these sub-venues, which must now go through a direct evaluation process by FIFA, will correspond to the teams participating in the 2030 World Cup themselves,” explains the Federation.
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