"The cities of Agadir and Marrakech are ready to host in December of this year the champions of the six confederations affiliated to FIFA who will join Raja Casablanca, champion of the Botola Pro of Morocco", could be read on Monday on the official website of FIFA, the world football governing body. A finding validated by the monitoring commission, which visited the Kingdom (21 to 24 May), to take stock of the preparations for a large-scale competition, which Morocco is hosting for the first time in its history, for two successive years (2013 and 2014). The visit, the third of its kind by the said commission, was an opportunity to "take stock of the progress of the work at the Agadir stadium, carry out an in-depth inspection of the one in Marrakech, proceed to the designation of the training grounds and hotel establishments selected to host the various stakeholders of the competition in the two host cities of the competition". To this meticulous exercise, the two cities amply met the requirements of FIFA.

During this three-day visit, several meetings were held, with the presence of representatives of the LOC (Local Organising Committee), with the final conclusion that the Grand Stade de Marrakech perfectly meets international standards, while the work on the one in Agadir is at an advanced stage and the capital of Souss will be endowed with a brand new stadium this summer. The inauguration date is not yet known, for obvious organisational reasons. The LOC also presented several detailed presentations on the "security, medical, transport, media and communication" plans, which were approved by the FIFA representatives. Not to mention the training grounds, which are part of the list of requests from the international federation. Indeed, in addition to the stadium enclosures that will host the matches, the teams will have training grounds at their disposal, to perfect their preparation on site, but also to acclimatise to the conditions of the city where they will play their matches. In this sense, and in consultation with FIFA, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and with the involvement of the FRMF, it was decided to create annex grounds to the stadiums of the host cities.

Other existing stadiums, such as El Harti (Marrakech) and Al Inbiaâte (Agadir) will be refurbished to fully meet international standards, by equipping them with new pitches.

The 2013 Morocco Club World Cup will see the participation of 7 teams. Alongside Raja Casablanca, representing Morocco with its title of champion won a few days ago, six teams will be present as the respective champions of the six confederations affiliated to FIFA. Thus, Bayern Munich (Europe), Monterrey (North America) and Auckland City (Oceania) have already booked their tickets to Morocco. We are waiting for the champions of Africa, Asia and Latin America.