Cairo - Saba:
In a surprise request, Egypt expressed its interest in hosting one of the 2034 World Cup groups to commemorate the centenary of Africa's first participation in the tournament, according to Hani Abu Rida, head of the Egyptian Football Association.
Abu Rida said, "Egypt was the fourteenth country invited to the first edition in 1930, and circumstances prevented its participation. However, Egypt and Africa were present at the next edition, Italy 1934, as the first team from outside Europe and America to participate in the global event."
Addressing Infantino, who was present in the hall, Abu Rida continued, "One hundred years after this historic event, Saudi Arabia will compete with all its might to organize a historic World Cup. We wish our Saudi brothers every success. At the same time, we aspire that Mr. Infantino will grant us, as Africans and Egyptians, the honor of hosting and organizing one of the groups of the 2034 World Cup, on our centenary in 2034."
Abu Rida added, "We have great hope and confidence that Mr. Infantino will not stop his efforts to expand the World Cup celebrations across many continents. We are certain that our brothers in Saudi Arabia will welcome this, based on the historical relationship between the two countries and their brotherly peoples. We are also hopeful and confident that Mr. Infantino will personally inaugurate this group in 2034 as FIFA President."
Egyptian officials have expressed their desire on several occasions to host the 2030 and 2034 World Cups. Reports indicated Egypt's desire to submit a joint bid with Saudi Arabia, before the latter won the bid alone.
Saudi Arabia was officially awarded the honor of hosting the 48-team World Cup on December 11, 2024, after being the only candidate.
Saudi Arabia will become the third Arab country to host the World Cup, following Qatar in 2022 and Morocco in 2030, jointly with Spain and Portugal.
As expected, South African Patrice Motsepe was re-elected as president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for a new four-year term, ending in March 2029, after the confederation's 14th General Assembly approved the re-election on Wednesday in Cairo. Meanwhile, Egypt expressed its interest in hosting a group at the 2034 World Cup, scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia.
Motsepe, 63, addressed the member associations after being elected unopposed, saying, "Thank you. It was a great honor to work with you because you represent the interests of the continent."
The mining billionaire and former president of South African club Mamelodi Sundowns succeeded in 2021 the Malagasy Ahmad Ahmad, who was embroiled in corruption scandals.
The most prominent event of the General Assembly was the election of CAF members to the FIFA Council, which saw the victory of Moroccan Fouzi Lekjaa (49 votes), Egyptian Hany Abo Rida (35), Nigerian Djibrilla Hima Hamidou (35), Mauritanian Ahmed Ould Yahya (29), and Djiboutian Souleymane Waberi (29). They defeated Nigerian Amaju Melvin Pinnick (28), Zambian Andrew Ndanga Kamanga (19), Ivorian Yassine Idriss Diallo (18), and Senegalese Augustin Emmanuel Senghor (13).
For the women's seat, Comoros' Kenizat Ibrahim (30) won, defeating Burundian Lydia Nsekera (13) and Sierra Leonean Aisha Johansen (7).
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