By Timothy Collings
ZURICH, May 15 - Morocco may have convinced the
world of the excellence of their fourth bid to host the World
Cup but still failed to land enough votes when it mattered on
Saturday, said disappointed bid leader Saad Kettani.
"We faced two juries. One was the jury of the world -- the
global jury -- and they knew and understood the reality of our
bid. But when we went before the limited jury of just 24 (FIFA
executive committee) members, they decided something else."
After losing 14-10 to South Africa in the first ballot held
by world soccer's governing body to decide the host of the 2010
World Cup, Kettani maintained his and Morocco's dignity in the
face of a fourth defeat in the quest to host the 32-team finals.
So, too, did his bid team as they filed out of the hall in
which the decision was revealed by FIFA president Sepp Blatter
amid scenes of wild South African celebrations centred around
85-year-old former president Nelson Mandela.
Few of Morocco's bid team showed any disappointment, though
Just Fontaine, the Moroccan-born striker who scored a record 13
goals for France in the 1958 finals, quipped: "It was business
as usual - and we thought it was about sport.
"We had goalscorers, sportsmen and footballers but they had
three Nobel Prize winners. So that is what happened. We'll have
to try again. But next time, in 24 years', I will not be here."
It was difficult not to feel sympathy for Morocco even as
Kettani gave a clear vision of his country's future plans.
While sources close to their delegation suggested they had
been let down by voters from the CONCACAF region, who switched
allegiance, Kettani shrugged such thoughts aside.
"What is important is not to know where we fell down," he
said. "But it is important to know that there has been a
competition and that Morocco went into it in a spirit of fair
play, that we maintained our dignity to the end and that we
respected the decision of the executive committee.
BEST WISHES
"We wish to send to all our brothers in South Africa our
best wishes for a very happy and very good World Cup in 2010.
"We're not disappointed at all. We're still convinced, and
I'm sure the world is convinced, that is the world that followed
the presentations -- the world jury, that the reality of our bid
was special," added Kettani.
"The World Cup was just a tactical step for us in our global
strategy for Vision 2010. This is to be our appointment with the
free trade zone for Europe and for America.
"We're in the process of setting up our economy to be a
competitive economy and with a free society and we did all this
as part, within our strategy, of the development of football in
Morocco. It is all part of our plan."
He added that on any examination of the various criteria --
issues such as security, finance, infrastructure, football
heritage or the legacy for Africa -- Morocco had a plan that
"was clearly the strongest and the clearest."
But, he said, Morocco respected fair play, transparency and
professionalism and congratulated South Africa.
Fontaine added: "I hope South Africa does a perfect job.
They're organising this World Cup for Africa and it matters to
us all."
Egypt's World Cup bid general coordinator Hisham Azmy was
also philosophical after seeing his country's campaign crumble
and produce no votes at all.
"We expected some votes but in the end we did not have them.
If you play a match and you get to the final, it is the same if
you lost 4-0 or 1-0. You don't get the trophy.
"We're proud of the inspection team's report and we were
told we have an excellent presentation. But what does that mean?
We got no votes. Yes, we had promises. Of course, we did. But we
had 24 promises. You cannot rely on them. It is not votes.
"In the end it is about the lobbying and the politics. That
is where it is decided."