IN an attempt to make the bidding process more transparent, there will be an open ballot for the 2026 FIFA World Cup hosting rights, after FIFA’s Council approved the voting regulations for the game’s most specular event.

The FIFA Congress will convene on June 13 in Russia to vote on the host of football’s showpiece, with Morocco and a joint North American bid from the United States, Canada and Mexico, being the only bids in play.

“GFF has not been directly approached by any of the two groups bidding to host the World Cup,” president of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), Wayne Forde,  told Chronicle Sport when contacted to ascertain his federation’s support.

Speaking exclusively to this publication, the usually candid Forde explained that the GFF, at the moment, does “not have a position yet regarding our direction in terms of who we will vote for. However, once we have sufficient information by the two parties, we will be better able to meet as an executive and decide. We weren’t lobbied, but when that happens, we’ll deliberate and make a decision.”

Asked by Chronicle Sport if the GFF will take into consideration that they have never played the USA or Canada, and only faced Mexico when the Golden Jaguars reached the penultimate stage of the 2014 World Cup Qualifier, Forde acknowledged in the affirmative, but said there are other factors that need to be taken into consideration.

The GFF boss said the current CONCACAF president, Victor Montagliani, would’ve made significant strides in bridging the gap between the usual powerhouses in the confederation and their Caribbean counterparts.

Forde also noted that he’s hoping to see from the two candidates, how the revenue from the World Cup in 2026 will directly impact the confederation where Guyana is an affiliate, stating “when you consider where Guyana is located, we certainly want to know how this is going to benefit us and we want to see an equitable arrangement to lift the entire Caribbean.”

Despite having 31 associated countries in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), only 25 will be eligible (six are not affiliated to FIFA), meaning that the Caribbean’s vote will be vital to USA, Canada and Mexico, especially taking into consideration that as presenters of the bid, they (USA, Canada and Mexico) will not be eligible to vote.

While other continental confederations are likely to vote in blocs, CONCACAF is seeing its support for the North American bid split.

In a report published by ESPN, interim president of the CFU Randolph Harris, has cautioned that recent statements by the governments of St. Lucia and Dominica supporting Morocco’s bid to host to the 2026 World Cup don’t necessarily mean that is how the countries will vote.

ESPN reported last month the race between the North American bid and Morocco was already much closer than expected, despite the joint bid having the required infrastructure already in place. This was due in part to lingering resentment over the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigations into FIFA corruption, which ensnared several Caribbean soccer administrators, including former CONCACAF presidents Jack Warner and Jeffrey Webb.

The policies of US President Donald Trump, including a travel ban against mostly Arab countries, have also caused difficulty for the bid.

The announcements would seem to indicate that the North American bid’s base of support among CONCACAF countries isn’t as strong as it might have thought. At the minimum, it would indicate that resources are needed to shore up support among CONCACAF countries.