Sumar Has Urged the Government to Reconsider Co-hosting the 2030 World Cup With Morocco and Portugal Following a Migration Crisis

The small left-wing party, which holds 26 seats in the 350-member Parliament, tabled a non-binding motion on Wednesday calling on sports authorities to revisit the plan. Sumar MP Nahuel González accused Morocco of using migrants for political pressure, telling Spanish broadcaster TVE: "The Moroccan state, the Moroccan monarchy, does not respect human rights, it uses migrants to exercise political pressure. He added: "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.

The call follows last week's surge of tens of thousands of people across the Moroccan border into Ceuta. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez defended Moroccan authorities, saying they helped return nearly all 72,000 individuals who crossed, but Spain's Interior Ministry reports about 2,000 people, including 1,000 minors, remain. More than 80 people died attempting to swim across a breakwater and border fence from Morocco into Ceuta last Thursday and Friday.

In Portugal, the small party Livre sent a letter to Prime Minister Luís Montenegro and the Portuguese Football Federation president, calling the bid "unsustainable" after the crisis. The 2030 World Cup is set to be co-hosted by Spain, Morocco, and Portugal, with Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay each staging one game to mark the centenary of the inaugural tournament in 1930.