National football… global successes and continental achievements thanks to royal patronage
Namely, this extraordinary success experienced by football in Morocco is not a coincidence, nor mere luck, but the result of the tireless work of the authorities responsible for sports and competent institutions with the aim of developing the sports infrastructure, in addition to good management in order to improve the performance of national football and increase its competitiveness. , in accordance with the wise royal vision in this regard.
In the message sent by His Majesty the King to the participants of the National Sports Debate in Skhirat in 2008, His Majesty called for the establishment of a modern and efficient system for the regulation of the sports sector, based on the restructuring of the national sports scene, the rehabilitation of sports organizations for professionalism and the democratization of governing bodies.
In this regard, His Majesty stated that the situation requires, first of all, the taking of appropriate institutional and legal measures in order to keep pace with the rapid development of world sports, especially the demands for the development of professionalism.
On the other hand, His Majesty the King said that “despite certain high-level equipment available to our country (..), efforts must be redoubled”, emphasizing His Majesty’s willingness to prioritize the construction of local sports facilities in the projects of the National Initiative for Human Development , as well as programs contributed by the Mohammed V Solidarity Foundation.
Thus, in March 2010, His Majesty King Mohammed VI oversaw the inauguration of the “Mohammed VI Football Academy”, with the aim of contributing to the selection and training of top football practitioners, by establishing an educational system that combines sports and learning.
The football academy of Mohammed VI, which is the fruit of the royal will, was built and equipped according to standards that make it comparable to European vocational training centers with a world reputation.
And based on the roles assigned to it and the goals for which this sports institution was founded, the “Mohammed VI Football Academy” actually managed to train and produce high-level players who today form the backbone of the football team that participated in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which achieved the best African and Arab achievement by reaching the semi-finals.
The player Youssef Al-Nusairi, a professional player of the Spanish club Sevilla, Nayef Akrad, a player of West Ham United of England, and Ezzedine Onahi, who plays for the French club Angers, are among the most prominent graduates of the academy, and whose shares have risen in the global player market after a wonderful of the performance they provided through the rounds of this competition.
And about this world-class sports facility, FIFA’s website wrote on its pages, in an article dedicated to highlighting Moroccan football on the occasion of the 2022 World Cup, among the reasons for the success of Moroccan football: “Work continues in the short term.” Both in the medium and long term to prepare for the future from now on”, pointing out that the most outstanding achievement in the development plans is the opening of the Mohammed VI Football Academy.
FIFA pointed out that the academy includes state-of-the-art facilities and equipment that are all compatible with the standards of the International Federation of Football Associations, pointing out that this academy played a major role in the formation and brilliance of all categories of the national football team.
This great success achieved by the national team at the World Cup in Qatar 2022 does not only apply to the adult national team, but also includes all national teams, as well as the women’s and national football teams, as well as the national sports clubs that compete. at the continental championships.
Thus, the local football team managed to win the African Cup for local teams in the 2018 and 2020 editions, and the national futsal team won the African Nations Championship in the 2016 and 2020 editions, then the Arab Cup twice in 2021 and 2022 and the Cup confederation in 2022, in addition to reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the sport, and the junior national team placed second in the 2022 Arab Junior Cup.
National women’s football also excelled at the continental level, as the women’s national football team managed to qualify for the 2023 Women’s World Cup as the first Arab national team to do so, and the Atlas Lionesses took the runner-up position in the African Women’s Cup. organized by Morocco between June and July 2022, with the success of the military team. The Royal Women’s Club won the 2022 CAF Champions League title.
At the club level, Wydad Athletic Club, Raja Athletic Club and Nahdet Berkane have dominated Africa’s continental championships in recent years, as the Wydad team won the African Champions League title in the 2017 and 2022 editions, the 2018 African Super Cup and the Raja Athletic team won the 2018 and 2021 African Confederations Cup title, the 2019 African Super Cup and the Arab Champions Club Cup (2019-2020), which was named the “Mohammed VI Cup for Champions Clubs.” Renaissance Berkane won the 2020 and 2022 African Confederations Cup and the 2022 African Super Cup.
It is certain that all these achievements and the prestige that national football has achieved on the international scene should be dedicated and used in order to reach a better level that would make football a real lever of economic and social development at the national level. and within the African continent, and raise Morocco to a sports locomotive at the regional level.
In this sense, His Majesty confirmed that Morocco shares with its African brothers the same challenges and the same ambitions, in order to develop and expand the scope of sports practice in general, and to promote football in particular, believing in the important role it plays in achieving human development and strengthening integration and social cohesion Increasing regional, continental and international radiation.
In his royal message to the participants in the works of the international debate organized by the Royal Moroccan Football Association and the African Football Confederation in Skhirat in 2017, His Majesty said that Morocco looks forward to the emergence of a strong, cooperative and solidary African continent that will take the position it deserves in various international institutions and forums, either at the level of decision-making, or at the level of participation, or in terms of defending its legitimate right to organize international football events, of which, above all, it is the host of the World Cup finals.
