Al-Riyadh daily

I was shocked at the reaction of two Moroccan men when two Saudis asked them to take a photo together. The scene took place at Red Square in Moscow before the official opening of the World Cup. The Moroccan men started shouting at the Saudis angrily and saying that the Kingdom should have voted for Morocco to host the 2026 World Cup not against it.

Firstly, we need to clarify an important point here: voting is a country’s sovereign right; therefore, it is the Kingdom’s sovereign right. Secondly, nobody can deny the Kingdom’s positive position on Arab and Islamic issues and its endless support for these issues and its constant help to its sisterly countries, especially Morocco.

The Kingdom submitted a draft to the UN in 2017 on the situation of human rights violations in Iran; Morocco abstained from voting. Moreover, Morocco voted against Jordanian candidate Ali Bin Al-Hassan’s bid to chair the international federation and voted against lifting an embargo on Iraqi football. When Morocco senior officials were asked why Morocco sometimes votes against the Kingdom, they said the greater interests of Morocco always come first.

When Turki Al-Asheikh, Saudi advisor, was asked for which country the Kingdom would vote for hosting the World Cup in 2026, the USA or Morocco, he immediately answered. “USA, USA, USA, USA. The Kingdom’s greater interests always come first.”

In the world of politics, permanent friendships and alliances do not exist; but there are always permanent and constant interests. Saudi diplomacy is balanced because it drafts its policies based on the country’s interests without harming the interests of other countries. Some countries draft their policies against the interests of other countries on purpose. A good example is the Emir of the Qatari regime, who takes advantage of political conditions to sow sedition and who told the king of Morocco that Qatar would support Morocco if Saudi Arabia submitted a bid to host the World Cup in 2030.

In 2006, Qatar voted against Morocco and the latter took no action and did not even speak against Qatar and its terrorist crimes that continue to threaten the security and stability of the region.