Brussels, 10 July 2023

Miguel Urbán Crespo

European Parliament
Bât. Willy Brandt 02M045
60, rue Wiertz B-1047 Bruxelles
miguel.urbancrespo@europarl.europa.eu

Mr Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino

President of the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA)

Subject: Possible hosting of the 2030 Men's World Cup in occupied Western Sahara

Spain, Portugal and Morocco are working in a collaborative candidature for the celebration of
next Football World Cup in 2030. After the exclusion of Ukraine from the candidature, Saudi
Arabia's abandonment and the support of the African Football Confederation (CAF) to Spain
and Portugal if they include Morocco, this option has gained further momentum. In fact,
Mohammed VI himself recently announced Morocco's participation in the project.

Morocco is building a large sports stadium in Dakhla, a town in Western Sahara, a non-self-
governing territory pending decolonisation according to the United Nations, illegally occupied
by Morocco since 1975. Territories where rights violations are systematically taking place, as
attested to by various social organisations and as stated in a joint communication by the UN
Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of
Expression, the Special Rapporteur on Torture and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention.

Holding international events, such as football matches, in occupied territories could be

contrary to international law, as it would breach the obligations of the occupying power not
to exploit the resources and population of the occupied territory for its own benefit, as
enshrined in the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and other rules of international
humanitarian law.

Moreover, beyond the non-compliance with international law, including an occupied territory
among the World Cup venues would contribute to further normalising the illegal accession of
a territory by an occupying power. The World Cup cannot contribute to legitimising an illegal
occupation. Otherwise, FIFA would become an accomplice to this situation. We fervently
believe that the spirit of sport should be incompatible with any violation of international law
and human rights.

As the repeated UN resolutions on this unfinished decolonisation process have consistently

stated, the Saharawi people and their legal representatives are the only ones who should be
able to decide on the use of their legitimate territory and the resources there. In a 2021 ruling,
the EU's General Court of Justice annulled the EU's trade and fisheries agreements with
Morocco for including occupied Saharawi territories and failing to consult their legitimate
representatives.

In view of the above, the undersigned MEPs request FIFA, when assessing the tripartite bid of
Spain, Portugal and Morocco to host the 2030 Men's World Cup, not to include among the
proposed venues any located in the occupied territories of Western Sahara.

Yours sincerely,

Urbán Crespo, Miguel, The Left

Alfonsi, François, Greens/EFA
Arena, Maria, S&D
Benifei, Brando, S&D
Bilbao Barandica, Izaskun, Renew
Björk, Malin, The Left
Brglez, Milan, S&D
Bricmont, Saskia, Greens/EFA
Buschmann, Martin, NI
Castaldo, Fabio Massimo, NI
Demirel, Oezlem, The Left
Gusmao, José, The Left
Köster, Dietmar, S&D
Kouloglou, Stelios, The Left
Larrouturou, Pierre, S&D
Matias, Marisa, The Left
Miranda, Ana, Greens/EFA
Nart, Javier, Renew
Pereira, Sandra, The Left
Pimenta Lopes, Joao, The Left
Pineda, Manu, The Left
Rego, Sira, The Left
Rodríguez Palop, María Eugenia, The Left
Roose, Caroline, Greens/EFA
Schieder, Andreas, S&D
Sincic, Ivan vilibor, NI
Strik, Tineke, Greens/EFA
Villanueva, Idoia, The Left
Villumsen, Nikolaj, The Left
Wallace, Mick, The Left