Morocco has established itself over recent years as an “emerging superpower” in world Football, writes the New York Times “in a long report highlighting the giant steps taken by the Kingdom to develop its infrastructure, particularly sports, improve talent detection, strengthening the training of high-level footballers or even in terms of performance like the memorable feat during the 2022 World Cup.
“Morocco has become a central hub for football on the continent, a position consolidated by the announcement of the permanent headquarters agreement for the FIFA Africa Office in Marrakech“, notes the prestigious American daily in an article published under the title “How Morocco is emerging as a booming football superpower”.
Morocco will host the headquarters of the Africa Office of the International Football Federation (FIFA), under the agreement signed last week in Marrakech, by Aziz Akhannouch, head of government, Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, and Fouzi Lekjaa , president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF). In its specialized supplement “The Athletic”, the New York Times also recalls that in 2022 Morocco has become the first African and Arab nation to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup, noting that “this performance of one of the greatest outsiders in the history of the competition, who has captured hearts and minds well beyond the continent, is not the result of chance.”
Indeed, Morocco, which will host the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal, has made enormous investments, particularly in sports facilities, affirms the large circulation in this article signed by the journalist and author of several books on football, Simon Hughes, who notes that the Mohammed VI Football Academy “ultramodern” located just outside of Rabat east “one of the most significant projects” of the all-round development of Moroccan football. This sporting gem covers an area of 2.5 km² and includes a school, a medical center and four fields, details the American newspaper, adding that in 2017, five other regional training centers were built in different regions of the Kingdom.
Furthermore, the new Hassan II stadium, which is being built with an expected capacity of 115,000 seats, “will be the largest football stadium in the world and a symbol of the country's new status as one of football's emerging powers.” “, notes the publication, adding that many Moroccans hope that this stadium will host the final of the 2030 World Cup.
Before this World Cup, Morocco is also expected to host the next five editions of the Under-17 Women's World Cup, each year starting in 2025, and, in April, Rabat is expected to host the next World Football Summit, a conclave bringing together leaders and experts in the field worldwide, recalls the New York Times.
“Talent detection has improved in Morocco, as have the facilities that can be deployed to develop local talents,” notes the American daily, recalling the announcement by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), the OCP Group and private partners for the creation of a National Football Training Fund, dedicated to the professionalization of training centers and the promotion of young talents in the discipline.
“The main Moroccan clubs, equipped with quality infrastructure, are beginning to occupy the front row in African continental competitions, with Wydad de Casablanca winning the CAF Champions League in 2017 and 2022, and its rival, Raja who won the CAF Champions League in 2017 and 2022. won the CAF Confederation Cup in 2018 and 2021,” the publication further notes.
