MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

South American Corporation to bid for 2030 World Cup created

The 100th anniversary happens only once, Benado argued

The governments of Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Paraguay Friday launched the Corporación Juntos 2030, a body to jointly bid for the hosting of the 2030 football World Cup.

 The sports ministers of the four countries signed the creation of the Corporation at the National Stadium in Santiago. The last time the World Cup was played in South America was in Brazil in 2014.

Also interested in co-hosting the tournament in a separate bid are Spain and Portugal, who have announced their intention to include Ukraine in their partnership.

The event will mark the 100th anniversary of the first such competition. Then hosts Uruguay beat neighbors Argentina 4-2 in the final match played at Montevideo's Centenario Stadium.

“The nominations for the 2030 World Cup must be made by autonomous entities, so we agreed on the figure of this non-profit corporation under private law. We must call an assembly in 90 days, which will be held in Argentina during January, to establish a permanent board of directors,” Chile's Sports Minister Alexandra Benado explained.

“We do not rule out the need to build a new stadium, the FIFA charge book is very demanding, but it is something we are just working on, beyond some delineated venues in terms of the number of matches. We have to start working,” she added.

The Corporación Juntos 2030 “is a provisional board of directors,” Benado also said Thursday. She pledged to call for the official board to begin to function as soon as possible.

“This is not the project of a government, but the dream of a continent. South America understands that football has to recognize it,” insisted Benado, who claimed the 100th anniversary happens only once. “This is more than enough reason for FIFA to accept that this will be a single candidacy and, as the years go by, other continents will have more possibilities to consider it,” she also underlined.

Argentina's Sports Minister Matías Lammens said that “this is a great opportunity not only to show our countries to the world but also to reinforce regional integration, working hard on the generation of employment, more infrastructure and connectivity.”

“Today is an important day because it formalizes the work we have been doing together for several years, beyond the government in power, demonstrating the importance of this project for the region,” he went on.