World Cup scandal as major La Liga stadium is left out of hosting tournament after report ‘manipulated’
THE Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has been embroiled in a bizarre scandal over its stadiums for the 2030 World Cup.
Spain, Morocco and Portugal have been selected as hosts for the tournament in five years time.
Eleven venues were announced last week by the RFEF, including Real Madrid’s Bernabeu and Barcelona’s Nou Camp.
In the original list, Celta Vigo’s Balaidos Stadium was ranked No. 11 ahead of Anoeta Stadium, home to Real Sociedad.
But Spanish outlet El Mundo alleges “the RFEF manipulated the scores to exclude Vigo and include San Sebastian.”
According to the report, a team “evaluated the Spanish stadiums in a meeting held on June 25, 2024.”
The stadiums were selected using a ranking system, which scored the “technical project, operational capacity, financial structure and facilities of the host cities.”
The outlet claims “just 48 hours later, the evaluation team tweaked the Excel spreadsheet.”
In the revised document, Sociedad’s San Sebastian stadium was given a score of 10.6026, up from 10.1226.
That moved it past Vigo on the list, leaving the Balaidos Stadium eliminated from World Cup hosting contention.
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A Spanish Football Federation source told Footboom the adjustment was made “in accordance with Fifa’s directives.”
But Abel Caballero, the Mayor of Vigo, has publicly urged the RFEF to disclose the criteria used to exclude their stadium.
He said: “All I am asking for is transparency.
“Let the public know what data was used to remove Vigo from the running.”
He added, directly addressing RFEF president Rafael Louzan: “I demand that Louzan explain all of this immediately.
“[He must] explain who made the decisions, how they were made, why they were made, with electronically signed minutes.
“I don’t trust anything. This is extremely serious.
“The fact that selection criteria have been changed is of the utmost seriousness.”
The 2030 World Cup will be the first with three countries from two continents hosting the competition.
Spain last hosted the tournament way back in 1982.