Royal Moroccan Football Federation
CAF
Founded1956[1]
HeadquartersRabat
FIFA affiliation1960
CAF affiliation1960
PresidentFouzi Lekjaa
Websitefrmf.ma

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (Arabic: الجامعة الملكية المغربية لكرة القدم) is the governing body of football in Morocco. It was established in 1956. It became a member in the FIFA in 1960, and in the same year it also became a member of CAF. It organizes the football league, the Botola, the Morocco national football team and the Morocco women's national football team. It is based in Rabat. it is also a member of the UAFA and UNAF.[2]

History

Africa Cup Of Nations

On 29 January 2011, the CAF Board decided that Morocco would host the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, while the 2017 edition would be held in South Africa.[3]

In October 2014, the government of Morocco requested a postponement of the tournament due to the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa.[4] After the matter was discussed at the executive committee meeting on 2 November 2014, CAF decided to keep the date of the tournament, while also asking for a clarification from the Royal Moroccan Football Federation of whether they still wish to host the tournament.[5] On 8 November, Morocco failed to meet this deadline to confirm it would host the tournament.[6] Three days later CAF confirmed that Morocco would not host the tournament and a new host would be chosen from a list of countries which have expressed interest. Morocco, who had previously qualified as hosts, were disqualified from participation at the tournament.[7][8]

On 1 October 2022, Morocco announced its willingness to host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, after it was stripped from Guinea.[9][10] On 27 September 2023, CAF announced that Morocco will host the 35th edition of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2025.[11][12]

Women's Africa Cup of Nations

On 15 January 2021, Morocco was announced as hosts for the 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations. This is the first time a North African Arab country has hosted the Women's Africa Cup of Nations.[13] After a successful event, Morocco was given the right to host the 2024 Women's Africa Cup of Nations.[14][15]

FIFA World Cup Bids

In 1994, Morocco, United States and Brazil bade to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup.[16] The United States eventually won the bid with 10 votes, Morocco in second place with 7 votes and Brazil with 2.[17][18] Morocco was set to bid on the upcoming 1998 FIFA World Cup. It ended with 12–7 vote for France allowing France to be host of the 16th edition of the FIFA World Cup.[19][20][21]

In 2006, Morocco made their third bid to host the FIFA World Cup. Germany was successful in winning the vote to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup.[22] Morocco continued its attempt to host the next FIFA World Cup edition but failed in doing so.[23][24] South Africa won the bid making it the first African country to host the World Cup.[25] On 6 June 2015, The Daily Telegraph reported that Morocco had actually won the vote, but South Africa was awarded the tournament instead.[26]

2026 FIFA World Cup

Main articles: 2026 FIFA World Cup and Morocco 2026 FIFA World Cup bid

On 11 August 2017, was set for submission of an intention to bid, and on that day, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation announced that it would submit a bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[27] In March 2018, the Morocco 2026 bid committee stated their plan to spend $16 billion on preparing for the tournament, including building new transportation infrastructure, 21 new hospitals, a large number of new hotels and leisure facilities and building and/or renovating new stadiums.[28]

2030 FIFA World Cup

Main articles: 2030 FIFA World Cup and Morocco 2030 FIFA World Cup bid

The national football association of Morocco is scheduled to bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup.[29][30][31] On 15 June 2018, The bid was led by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, who officially confirmed it.[32]

On 25 July 2018, Royal Moroccan Football Federation president Fouzi Lekjaa, confirmed Morocco will apply for the 2030 World Cup bid.[33] On 10 March 2023, The Royal Spanish Football Federation and the Portuguese Football Federation, were studying the possibility of adding Morocco to their Iberian Bid to host the 2030 World Cup replacing Ukraine.[34][35][36]

On 4 October 2023, The FIFA Executive Committee has unanimously accepted the Morocco-Spain-Portugal bid as a candidate to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup.[37][38][39] King Mohammed VI appointed Lekjaa as the Chairman of 2030 World Cup Committee.[40][41]

Record of the Moroccan national team

Youth and Olympic teams

Main articles: Morocco national under-23 football team, Morocco national under-20 football team, and Morocco national under-17 football team

Presidents

FIFA rejected an election in 2013, and demanded a new election in 2014.[42][43] A term generally lasts four years.

Rank Name Period
1 Mohamed Yazidi 1956–1958
2 Omar Boucetta 1958–1962
3 Driss Slaoui 1962–1966
4 Majid Benjelloun 1966–1969
5 Maâti Jorio 1969–1970
6 Badreddine Snoussi 1970–1971
7 Arsalane Jadidi 1971–1974
8 Othman Slimani 1974–1978
9 Mehdi Belmejdoub 1978–1979
10 Fadoul Benzeroual 1979–1986
11 Driss Bamous 1986–1992
12 Houssaine Zemmouri 1992–1995
13 Hosni Benslimane 1995–2009[44]
14 Ali Fassi-Fihri (first term) 2009–2013[45]
15 Fouzi Lekjaa (first term) 2013[46]
16 Ali Fassi-Fihri (second term) 2013–2014
17 Fouzi Lekjaa (second term) 2014–present[47]

References

  1. ^ Histoire du Football au Maroc, federation royale marocaine de football
  2. ^ "North Africa to get federation". 2005-02-20. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  3. ^ "Morocco to host 2015 African Nations Cup". Reuters. 29 January 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  4. ^ "Ebola outbreak: Postpone Africa Cup of Nations, say hosts Morocco". BBC Sport. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  5. ^ "CAF maintains Orange AFCON 2015 from January 17 to February 8". Confederation of African Football. 3 November 2014. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014.
  6. ^ "2015 Nations Cup: Morocco fails to meet deadline". BBC Sport. 8 November 2014.
  7. ^ "CAF acknowledges Morocco's refusal to host ORANGE AFCON 2015 from January 17 to February 8". CAF. 11 November 2014. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014.
  8. ^ "2015 Nations Cup: Caf confirms Morocco will not host finals". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  9. ^ "Morocco plans to bid for 2025 AFCON tournament". HESPRESS English – Morocco News. 2022-10-01. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  10. ^ "Guinea stripped of hosting 2025 Africa Cup of Nations". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  11. ^ "Morocco to host 2025 Africa Cup of Nations". CAF. 2023-09-27. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  12. ^ "Official: Morocco to host CAF's 35th African Cup of Nations for 2025". HESPRESS English – Morocco News. 2023-09-27. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  13. ^ Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Decisions of CAF Executive Committee – 15 January 2021". CAFOnline.com. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  14. ^ "Morocco to host upcoming 2024 women's African Cup of Nations". HESPRESS English – Morocco News. 2022-08-10. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  15. ^ "Morocco will once again host the Women's Africa Cup of Nations football tournament". Atalayar. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  16. ^ "How USA was chosen to host World Cup 94: the inside story of a historic day". the Guardian. 2015-07-04. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  17. ^ Lewis, Michael (2022-07-04). "THE 1994 BID: How the U.S. got the World Cup". Front Row Soccer. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  18. ^ Diaz, Cesar. "United States Supporters: Please Remember the 1994 FIFA World Cup Bid". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  19. ^ "France wins bid for 1998 World Cup". UPI. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  20. ^ "France Gets 1998 World Cup". The New York Times. Associated Press. 1992-07-03. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  21. ^ "Who won the World Cup in 1998? | Goal.com". goal.com. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  22. ^ "Moroccan Bid for 2006 World Cup – Alive and Kicking". Al Bawaba. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  23. ^ "Report: Morocco, not S. Africa, won WC vote". ESPN.com. 2015-06-07. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  24. ^ "South Africa wins 2010 World Cup bid". aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  25. ^ "South Africa celebrates winning bid for 2010 football World Cup". the Guardian. 2004-05-17. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  26. ^ "Fifa in crisis: 'Morocco won 2010 World Cup vote – not South Africa'". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  27. ^ "Le Maroc dépose officiellement sa candidature pour organiser la Coupe du Monde 2026" [Morocco officially submits its bid to organise the 2026 World Cup]. FRMF.ma (in French). Royal Moroccan Football Federation. 11 August 2017.
  28. ^ "9 Stadiums Confirmed in Morocco's 2026 World Cup Candidacy, Amid Doubts of Infrastructure Capabilities". Morocco World News. 22 August 2017.
  29. ^ "King of Morocco orders country to bid for 2030 World Cup". BBC. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  30. ^ "World Cup 2030: Morocco to bid to host the tournament again after losing out to the United States, Canada & Mexico for 2026 finals". Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  31. ^ "Morocco hopes to bid for 2030 World Cup despite 5th time defeat". 15 June 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  32. ^ "Zetchi: Pour une coupe du monde "Algérie-Tunisie-Maroc" en 2030 – Algerie Direct". Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  33. ^ "Morocco To Bid For 2030 World Cup". Hot Sports TV. 25 July 2018. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  34. ^ Zouiten, Sara. "World Cup 2030: Spain, Portugal In Talks to Add Morocco to Iberian Bid". moroccoworldnews. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  35. ^ "Morocco may replace Ukraine in Spain–Portugal 2030 World Cup bid". HESPRESS English – Morocco News. 2023-03-10. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  36. ^ Slater, Guillermo Rai and Matt. "Morocco set to replace Ukraine in Spain–Portugal 2030 World Cup bid". The Athletic. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  37. ^ "FIFA accepts Morocco-Spain-Portugal World Cup bid, King announces". HESPRESS English – Morocco News. 2023-10-04. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  38. ^ Kasraoui, Safaa (4 October 2023). "Morocco, Spain, and Portugal Confirmed as Joint Hosts of 2030 World Cup". Morocco World News. p. 1. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  39. ^ Team, Newslooks (2023-10-04). "Morocco, Spain and Portugal to host 2030 World Cup". NewsLooks. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  40. ^ "King Mohammed VI appoints Lekjaa as Chairman of 2030 World Cup Committee". HESPRESS English – Morocco News. 2023-10-05. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  41. ^ Aamari, Oussama (5 October 2023). "King Mohammed VI Appoints Fouzi Lekjaa as President of 2030 World Cup Committee". Morocco World News. p. 1. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  42. ^ "Fifa rejects football elections in Morocco". BBC Sport. November 2013. The Fifa Emergency Committee has decided not to recognise the elections held by the Moroccan (Federation) on 10 November 2013
  43. ^ "FIFA refuses to recognise new Morocco FA president". Eurosport. 2013-11-15. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  44. ^ "Housni Benslimane quitte la présidence". Maghress. April 2009.
  45. ^ "Ali Fassi Fihri takes control of the Moroccan football federation". goal.com. 2009.
  46. ^ Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "FIFA rejects Moroccan president appointment". CAFOnline.com. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  47. ^ Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Lekjaa elected head of Morocco Football Federation". CAFOnline.com. Retrieved 2022-10-05.

External links

Sports governing bodies in Morocco (MAR)
Football in Morocco
International association football
National football associations of Africa (CAF)
Union of Arab Football Associations
Union of North African Football Federations
Authority control databases: National
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