ZURICH: A new complication has been cast into the phoney war ahead of bidding to host the 2030 centenary World Cup finals writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

One South American proposal has long been in the works from Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay. Now a new plan has been put forward for a cohosting offer by Ecuador, Colombia and Peru.

The idea was raised by the President of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, at this past weekend’s ‘Amazon Summit’ in Leticia, Colombia.

He wrote on Twitter: “I proposed to Presidents Iván Duque and Martin Vizcarra that we organize the World Cup in Ecuador, Colombia and Peru in 2030, the year for which South America is the favourite to host the tournament.”

No comment has yet been forthcoming from Colombia and Peru amid scepticism that a second regional bid would only split support and make it even more difficult for a South American campaign to raise the necessary majority of votes in FIFA Congress.

The only other serious bid in the offing is from the five British and Irish associations.

Last June, Spain and Portugal considered a joint bid after a North African proposal to join with Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia was ruled out of court by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin.

China also has its eye on 2030 after powerful financial support from FIFA from some of its major corporations. The complication here is that he usual rotation rules would rule out another Asian bid – given that Qatar is host in 2022 – would be ruled out until 2034.

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