Sumar, the junior partner in Spain's coalition government, has called on national sports authorities to reconsider the country's plan to co-host the 2030 World Cup alongside Morocco and Portugal, following a serious migration crisis at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.
The left-wing party, which holds 26 of the 350 seats in Spain's Parliament but wields disproportionate influence through its ministerial roles in Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's government, tabled a non-binding motion on Wednesday urging a review of the joint hosting arrangement. Although the motion is unlikely to secure support beyond other small left-wing parties, its political weight stems from Sumar's position within the ruling coalition.
The move follows chaotic scenes last week at Ceuta, where tens of thousands of people crossed the border from Morocco into the Spanish territory. Sánchez has publicly praised Moroccan authorities for their cooperation, noting that nearly all of the roughly 72,000 people who entered were subsequently returned. Spain's Interior Ministry says around 2,000 people, including 1,000 minors, remain in Ceuta.
The crisis turned deadly, with more than 80 people reportedly dying while attempting to swim around a breakwater and border fence between Morocco and Ceuta over two days last week. Spain's opposition and even the country's own defence minister have pressed Rabat for a fuller account of how the surge was allowed to happen, with reports suggesting social media campaigns had encouraged the crossings.
Nahuel González, the Sumar MP who co-authored the motion, accused Morocco's government of exploiting migration as a political tool. Speaking to Spanish broadcaster TVE, he said: "The Moroccan state, the Moroccan monarchy, does not respect human rights, it uses migrants to exercise political pressure."
González stopped short of specifying whether Sumar wants Morocco removed from the 2030 hosting arrangement or Spain to withdraw entirely, but he was clear about the underlying motivation. "We ask that Spain's sports institutions reconsider this World Cup that is to be shared with Morocco because we believe that we must defend human rights," he said.
The political fallout has not been confined to Spain. In Portugal, the small parliamentary party Livre has raised similar objections, writing to Prime Minister Luís Montenegro and the head of the Portuguese Football Federation to demand a reassessment of the tournament's hosting structure. The party described continuing with the current plan as "unsustainable" in light of the events at Ceuta.
The 2030 World Cup was designed as a historic three-nation collaboration between Spain, Morocco and Portugal, marking the first time the tournament would be jointly staged across two continents. In a nod to football history, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will each host a single opening match, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Uruguay hosting the first-ever World Cup in 1930.
While Sumar's motion faces long odds of passing given the limited backing it has attracted so far, it reflects growing unease among some European lawmakers about proceeding with major sporting partnerships involving Morocco while diplomatic tensions over migration remain unresolved. Whether the criticism from Sumar and Livre will translate into any formal reconsideration of the 2030 hosting arrangement by FIFA or national football federations remains to be seen, but the political pressure on Sánchez's government appears likely to persist as the fallout from the Ceuta crisis continues.
Based on reporting from Independent (football).