Voters for the 2026 World Cup are now allowed to publicly back bids

In January, FIFA forbade officials to speak about the advantages of a North American bid featuring USA, Canada and Mexico – and the same applied to Morocco, so far the only rival bidder.

At the time, Confederation of African Football president Ahmad Ahmad – forced to host a CAF Congress without being able to support continental comrades Morocco – made it known he was not best pleased with FIFA's instruction.

But now FIFA's secretary-general Fatma Samoura has informed members that the ban has been lifted ahead of the governing body's 211-nation strong congress which takes place in June. That is when the vote will be to decide the 2026 World Cup host.

Samoura's letter to the Associated Press reads: "All public statements by football officials in support of one bidder are admissible provided that they meet the underlying principles of ethical behavior."

Lets all just hope the ethics bit isn't overlooked.

SEE ALSO...

• Independiente bring along a sorcerer to help them win the Recopa Sudamericana
• RB Leipzig build a special smoking area for Napoli manager Maurizio Sarri

In Other News...