Second cellular phone license to finance sports and hotel projects

King Mohammed VI on Tuesday gave instructions that a part of the surplus of the receipts of the Moroccan second cellular phone license be earmarked to the renovation of sports and hotels infrastructures.

The King, who received Economy and Finance Minister, Fathallah Oulalou, and Sports Minister, Ahmed Moussaoui, made the move in support of Morocco's candidacy to host the 2006 World Cup.

Morocco is competing with fellow African Nation, South Africa, England and Germany to stage the planetary football event.

Morocco had ceded its second GSM mobile phone license to Spanish-Portuguese-Moroccan consortium "Medi-telecoms" at $1.08 billion.