In an unprecedented move for a Moroccan Football star, Hakim Ziyech openly opposed the policy of normalization with Israel desired by King Mohammed VI. This position, which comes in the midst of the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, could mark the end of his international career.
The notable absence of Ziyech during the Atlas Lions’ last matches against Gabon and Lesotho reveals the growing tensions between the player and the governing bodies of Moroccan football. If coach Walid Regragui publicly invokes a lack of playing time at Galatasaray for his winger, sources close to the Royal Moroccan Football Federation also speak behind the scenes of the discomfort created by the player’s declarations on the kingdom’s foreign policy.
In a calculated intervention on Galatasaray TV, Ziyech chose to bypass official channels to address the Moroccan people directly: “ Moroccans love me enormously, I feel their support, their encouragement and it fills me with pride and honor to belong to this country and to this great people. » A message which resonates as a call for popular support in the face of institutional pressures, and which reflects the depth of the gap which has widened between the player and the authorities.
A compromised sporting future
This position comes, in fact, as Morocco continues its strategy of rapprochement with Israel, initiated by the Abraham Accords. A policy which, despite its economic and diplomatic repercussions, arouses growing opposition within the Moroccan population, particularly since the intensification of violence in Gaza.
The reception at the port of Tangier Med of ships transporting military equipment to Israel seems to have been the last straw for Ziyech. The international striker could not remain silent in the face of the rapprochement between Netanyahu and Mohammed VI which abandoned historic support for the Palestinian people, which triggered his controversial message last week, during the match between Ajax Amsterdam and Macabi Tel -Aviv. Today, Ziyech calls on the Moroccan people to try to force the Moroccan government to bend.
The repercussions of this confrontation go far beyond the political framework. At 31, the winger sees his international career seriously threatened. His situation at club is also deteriorating: at Galatasaray, tensions with coach Okan Buruk are accumulating, significantly reducing his playing time. A transfer to Qatar, in particular to the Al-Arabi club, is emerging as a possibility. probable exit door, provided he achieves a termination of his current contract.
By becoming the spokesperson for a significant segment of the Moroccan population hostile to normalization with Israel, the player has transformed himself into a political symbol. His notoriety and his status as an icon of Moroccan football give his protest a particular resonance, directly challenging the diplomatic orientations of the monarch.
In a country where sport, and particularly football, has always been closely linked to royal power, Ziyech’s rebellion marks a break. It testifies to the emergence of a new generation of Moroccan athletes, ready to use their notoriety to express divergent political positions, even if it means paying a high price on a professional level.
For the moment, neither the federation nor the royal palace have reacted officially to the player’s statements.
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