Ukraine joins Portugal-Spain bid to host 2030 football World Cup

Ukraine has joined Spain and Portugal in a combined bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

The presidents of the three countries' football federations announced the project at a press conference in Switzerland on Wednesday.

"The project aims to inspire society through football, sending out a message of solidarity and hope," the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) said in a statement.

"I am convinced that the whole of Spanish society will be proud of the important legacy that this bid leaves for history," RFEF president Luis Rubiales told reporters at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon.

"We each represent our countries separately, but together we represent the transformative power that football has on society."

"It is no longer the Iberian Candidature, it is now the European Candidature," he said, describing it as a "historic day".

Fernando Gomes, head of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), added that the project had been approved by the three states' governments and was supported by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin.

"The example of tenacity and resilience shown by the Ukrainian people is a source of inspiration," the FPF said in its statement.

"The terms of Ukraine's membership of this bid will be discussed and defined in due course," it added.

Spain and Portugal have been collaborating and preparing their bid together for almost three years. The president of the Ukrainian Football Federation (UAF), Andriy Pavelko, was also present at the announcement.

Ukraine co-hosted the 2012 European Championship in four cities -- Kyiv, Lviv, Donetsk, and Kharkiv -- alongside Poland.

Both Donetsk and Kharkiv have been bombarded or occupied by Russian forces following the invasion by Moscow in February. Ukraine’s national team and leading