BrazilMorocco hires UK consulting firm to manage 2026 World Cup bid
As Morocco prepares to launch a fifth campaign to host the globe's most prestigious tournament, the country’s bid will be managed by a British-based consultancy. Vero, a London-based firm with a history of managing successful bids for the FIFA World Cup, will head up Morocco’s efforts for the follow up to Qatar 2022.
Vero, a sports consulting firm based in London, were actually behind the successful bid which saw Qatar controversially named the hosts of the World Cup in four years’ time. In a hope to emulate the Middle Eastern nation’s success, Morocco has reportedly hired the international communication and reputation consultants to manage its 2026 World Cup bid.
According to sources close to the firm, Vero's consultants are said to be preparing to “shape the vision of the expanded 48-team tournament in the Kingdom.” Should the 2026 World Cup bid prove successful, Morocco will become only the second African nation to play host to FIFA’s hallowed tournament, following South Africa in 2010.
2026 World Cup bid
Morocco formally announced its intention to host the World Cup in the summer of 2017, declaring that it is ready to organise the international contest, but without giving further details on the host cities and stadiums that this would involve. The news came quickly after the United States of America, Mexico and Canada became the first nations to declare their designs for hosting 2026, tabling a joint bid on April 2017. As part of the preparation for Morocco’s bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Minister of Industry, Trade, & New Technologies, Moulay Hafid Elalamy, has been appointed as the Chair of Morocco’s Bid Committee by King Mohammed VI.
This is the fifth time that Morocco have bid for the World Cup, having offered their services in 1994 – when they lost out to the USA, who have also put their names in the hat this time – as well as in 1998, 2006 and 2010. However, as the North African Kingdom prepares to send a team to its first World Cup in 20 years, having qualified for Russia 2018, they will hope their return to football’s top table will boost their profile in the global game. The last time Morocco attended the World Cup, they failed to venture beyond the group stage, having been drawn against Brazil, Scotland and Norway. In Russia, Morocco are due to face Iran, 2010 winners Spain, and current European Champions, Portugal.
Morocco will also see their hopes boosted by FIFA’s intent to demonstrate that it is a changed organisation. In 2015, football’s global governing body launched an internal probe into its operations, conducted by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, an independent and external law firm, amid allegations of bribery which had helped to sway the bidding process for a succession of World Cups – particularly the successful bid of Qatar, with one witness saying a senior FIFA official took at least $1 million in bribes to vote for Qatar to host the 2022 contest. Qatar was recently hit by fresh allegations, over a supposed “secret deal” worth $100 million.
The alleged corruption was so pervasive within the organisation that KPMG was forced to launch an internal probe into its own Swiss arm, who had performed a series of major audits of FIFA, as a number of FIFA’s global partners did, in order to self-contain any potential implications in the scandal.
By tapping Vero, the Moroccan bid team have brought a firm on board with a considerable track record. The consultancy for instance helped Paris win the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, serving as the communications strategy lead, while it also was involved with several projects for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
