Ghana not taking part in 2026 World Cup voting

Published on: 13 June 2018

Ghana are not participating in the voting process to elect the 2026 World Cup host which is currently ongoing in Russia.

The West African nation alongside Kosovo have been excluded, leaving 205 eligible voters out of 211 federations.

According to FIFA insiders, Morocco have received a late boost to their hopes with the expectation that four US territories will abstain from the voting on Wednesday (today) despite Ghana’s absence.

The so-called united bid of the USA, Mexico and Canada is the technically safer option and definitely more attractive financially to the voting federations but that may not be enough to carry them over the line.

Their position was weakened by the expectation that four US territories at the centre of a voting row will not take part.

Morocco has been pressing Fifa for several weeks to intervene and exclude the US-governed territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the US Virgin Islands because of a perceived conflict of interest.

This is the first World Cup vote since England endured a shock defeat in the contest to host the 2018 finals when Russia and Qatar were picked to host consecutive tournaments despite being vastly weaker on paper.

Meanwhile, Ghana’s absence comes as a blow to Morocco who had won the support of Ghana over joint bidders United States, Mexico and Canada.

While Ghana’s former FA president Kwesi Nyantakyi has been handed a 90-day Fifa ban following corruption allegations, the country’s government is on the verge of dissolving the association, with two GFA officials barred from travelling to attend the congress in Russia.

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