Soccer Football – Carabao Cup Final – Chelsea v Liverpool – Wembley Stadium, London, Britain – February 27, 2022 Liverpool fan with the big screen in the background in support of Ukraine before the match Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
John Sibley Reuters
Ukraine has joined Spain and Portugal in their bid to host the 2030 World Cup.
The partnership between the three countries was confirmed by leaders of the countries’ three soccer federations at UEFA headquarters Wednesday.
“This is the dream of millions of Ukrainian fans. The dream of people who survived the horrors of war or are still in the occupied territories, over which the Ukrainian flag will surely fly soon,” said Andriy Pavelko, president of Ukraine’s soccer federation, at a news conference Wednesday.
He said the move was sanctioned by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine has been under full-scale invasion by Russia since February.
Details were not given on how many games would be held in Ukraine, or in which cities, but the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv hosted the finals of the 2012 European Championship and the 2018 Champions League.
“Now it’s not the Iberian bid, it’s the European bid,” Spain’s soccer federation president, Luis Rubiales, said at the news conference, according to the Associated Press. “Together we represent the power of transformation football has in society.”
Spain and Portugal previously announced their joint bid in June 2021. The new bid faces competition from a collaboration between Egypt, Greece and Saudi Arabia, and a South American bid between Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile.
FIFA will vote to choose the host in 2024.