Benefit event "All-Stars for Ukraine." Photo: Jonas Walzberg/picture alliance via Getty Images
Ukraine is joining Spain and Portugal in a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup, the Ukrainian Football Association announced at a news briefing Wednesday.
Why it matters: UEFA executive committee member Andriy Pavelko said Wednesday that the bid is "important for the unification and strengthening of Europe in these difficult times."
Driving the news: Ukrainian Football Association president Andrii Pavelek made the announcement alongside presidents from the Spanish and Portuguese soccer federations.
- Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky backs the plan to host the global soccer tournament, Pavelko said.
- "We realize how important this initiative is today for all of Ukraine," Pavelko said at the news briefing. "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 and over whom the Ukrainian flag will surely fly soon," he added.
- "The war will end, and we will organize World Cup 2030 matches together with Spain and Portugal at the highest level!" Pavelko said.
Context: A Spain-Portugal bid for the 2030 World Cup was announced back in June 2021 before adding Ukraine into the mix this month, CNBC reports.
- “Now it’s not the Iberian bid, it’s the European bid,” Spain soccer federation president Luis Rubiales said, per AP. "Together we represent the power of transformation football has in society.”
What's next: FIFA will vote on the 2030 host in 2024.
- Other bids for the 2030 World Cup include a joint application between Egypt, Greece and Saudi Arabia, as well as a collaboration between Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile, per CNBC.