The numbers don’t lie. The 2024/2025 season is a real fiasco for the two Casablanca clubs. The WAC is 15 lengths behind the leader of the Botola, the RSB, while Raja has a deficit of 16 points.
Stuck in the soft underbelly of the ranking, the two clubs must strengthen their respective squads, improve their performance on the field and above all convince their fans, seized by fear at the idea of a blank season ending prematurely. All this, while the economic outlook, particularly on the Raja side, is not positive.
Wydadis see red
It was a real SOS launched this Monday by the ultras, ex-players and members of Wydad. All expressed via detailed press releases their concern regarding the governance of the club, with visible criticisms regarding two very specific elements: the sporting project and the President’s communication.
Under the spotlight of criticism, for the first time since his arrival at the head of the club, the choices of Hicham Ait Menna are discussed without complacency. The supporters’ fear is justified, since the Rouge et Blanc have amassed 24 points in 16 championship matches, one point less than last season under the leadership of Adil Ramzy.
In terms of play, Mokwena struggles to impose his technical and tactical choices. It is true that his ideology is the polar opposite of the club’s DNA. The state of alert is therefore at its peak, five months before the Club World Cup.
A competition where it will be necessary to perform well, since the Reds have inherited a group which includes two blockbusters of European football, such as Man City and Juve, as well as Al Ain of the Emirates.
Read also: Club World Cup: in its quest for El Dorado, Wydad must arm itself with ambition
In essence, the state of grace is over for the hyper-president of the WAC, called for more moderation in his media outings, and for a more targeted transfer window to strengthen a team, which has made a clean sweep of its recent past.
The heavy defeat in front of the MAS at home exacerbated this observation and pushed members, glories and ultras to step up to the plate. Will Hicham Ait Menna adopt a Gaullian attitude and send the famous “I understand you”? Will he persist in a solitary, double-edged exercise of power, like his predecessor? The future will enlighten us on the path that the Wydad boss will take.
The Rajaouis, green with rage
In the house opposite, the crisis has an air of déjà vu. In Raja, the words storm, hurricane, typhoon, even tsunami are part of the daily weather forecasts. In any case, this vocabulary has been part of the terminology since 2013. This time, the storm could sweep away President Hala.
The latter is accused of having squandered the sporting legacy of an immaculate 2023/2024 sporting season. His choices of coaches have so far been catastrophic, his recruitments do not live up to the ambitions of the supporters, while his day-to-day management does not meet, according to the vox populi, the standing of a historic club.
In detail, Raja has already used two head coaches and one interim. The quest for a new skipper is proving haphazard for the moment, notably with the Gamondi bug.
The contracts offered to these coaches, followed by termination for insufficient results, risk further altering finances that would have done well without them. The transfer window for players was also not up to par, with individuals who did not adapt to the local context, or at least not quickly enough.
The management of the Bouzouk case, the ostracization of Zniti or the shocking declarations of Bellaamri are the most obvious symptoms of the ambient unease. Because, reading all these elements, the crisis of confidence between the players and their president is obvious. The members, supposed to be the guardians of the temple, will, as usual, have the last word in deciding the course to follow in the immediate future.
If we are to rely on the case law of recent years, they will require the holding of an elective EGM or will lean towards a provisional committee. The names of former presidents Ziyat and Hasbane, as well as that of the current marketing manager Wafa Lemsioui, are mentioned to ensure succession. But everything depends on a decisive meeting, scheduled for this Friday with the members.
Read also: What if Raja made his mea culpa?
Never have the WAC and Raja experienced, simultaneously, such a gloomy situation, sportingly and financially speaking. Their situation contrasts with that of their rivals, such as the RSB and the AS FAR.
It is even alarming if we were to compare it with that of Esperance de Tunis, which will make its debut on the stock market in the coming days, and which will thus strengthen its positioning on the sporting and financial levels.
A paradox if we were to rely on the economic situation of Tunisia. But Hope preferred the attitude of the ant from Jean de la Fontaine’s fable. In Casablanca, it is rather the cicadas that are heard.
The winter of 2025 is certainly gloomy and the storm warnings only make lovers of the two Casablanca institutions fear the worst.
Par Amine Birouk
01/02/2025 at 4:54 p.m.
