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Sport in Morocco

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Sports in Morocco refers to the sports played in the Kingdom of Morocco. As of 2007, Moroccan society participated in many sports, including handball, football, golf, tennis, basketball, and athletics. Hicham El Guerrouj, a retired middle distance runner for Morocco, won two gold medals for Morocco at the Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics.[1]

Association football has historically been particularly popular amongst persons of African descent and is Morocco's most popular sport. Other popular sports include: athletics, Futsal, basketball, boxing, golf, netball, swimming, surfing and tennis.

Morocco has hosted many international events such as the 1988 African Cup of Nations,[2] 2013 FIFA Club World Cup,[3] 2014 FIFA Club World Cup, 2018 African Nations Championship[4] and the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup.[5] Most of the events hosted are football related since it is the most popular sport in the country.

Ministry of Youth and Sports

The Moroccan Ministry of Youth and Sports was founded in August 1964 and houses all the sporting federations in the country. Despite the Ministry's mission to engage young people in sporting opportunities, many Moroccan athletes denounce the institution as not giving young Moroccans enough sponsorship or opportunities to play sports professionally.[6]

Football

See also: Football in Morocco
Morocco at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia
Moroccan football fans at the 2018 FIFA World Cup

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation based in Rabat is the governing body of football in Morocco. Morocco qualified for the FIFA World Cup six times and bid for the World Cups 1994, 1998, 2006, 2010 and 2026 but lost out to United States, France, Germany, South Africa and Canada/Mexico/United States in these bids. Morocco is now co-bidding for the 2030 with either Portugal/Spain or Algeria/Tunisia.

Botola

Main article: Botola

The "Botola" Pro is the top league competition for football clubs in Morocco. Each season 16 teams compete for the championship. Champion and runner-up participate in the African Champions League. The most successful clubs in the league are: AS FAR, and Wydad Casablanca, and Raja Casablanca.[7]

The Moroccan top-flight has produced the second-highest number of CAF Champions League titles, with three Moroccan clubs having won seven African trophies in total.[8][9] They also produced the highest number of CAF Confederation Cuptitles, with five Moroccan clubs having won seven African confederation trophies.[10]

Futsal

Morocco's popularity for Futsal has risen over the years due to its similarity to football. Morocco national futsal team is a major force in the African and Arab world. They hosted the 2020 Africa Futsal Cup of Nations.[11] Their first major trophy came in 2016, after defeating Egypt in the final.[12] They have won the Africa Futsal Cup of Nations twice.[13] They also won the Arab Futsal Cup twice.[14][15]

Morocco qualified for the FIFA Futsal World Cup three times, Their best performance was in 2021, where they reached the round of 16.[16][17] Morocco is the only African and Arab country to have won the Futsal Confederations Cup.[18][19]

Equestrian sports

Morocco has a vibrant equestrian sports community headed by the Royal Moroccan Equestrian Federation. Morocco's most famous equestrian, Abdelkebir Ouaddar, represented the country in the 2014 Normandy World Equestrian Games and 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[20]

Motorsport

Mehdi Bennani is Morocco's most notable racing driver. He has competed in the World Touring Car Championship since 2009, where he has scored a number of top three finishes. In 2014 he scored his first WTCC win at the championship's Shanghai round.[21]

Cricket

Morocco hosted the 2002 Morocco Cup, which was well attended.[22] Sri Lanka beat South Africa in the final.[23]

Morocco boasts an ICC approved ground capable of hosting full internationals, the National Cricket Stadium in Tangier. It has so far hosted a One Day International triangular tournament, the Morocco Cup in 2002, where Sri Lanka won ahead of South Africa and Pakistan.

Basketball

See also: Morocco national basketball team

Morocco, represented by the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Basket-Ball, has been affiliated to FIBA since 1936.[24] The men's national team has won a FIBA Africa Championship title, won in 1965. The professional national league is Nationale 1.

Women's volleyball

Morocco has a successful women's national volleyball team which lastly qualified for the 2021 Women's African Nations Volleyball Championship[25] where it won the bronze medal.

Rugby union

Main articles: Rugby union in Morocco and Morocco national rugby union team

Rugby union came to Morocco in the early 20th century, mainly by the French who occupied the country.[26] As a result, Moroccan rugby was tied to the fortunes of France, during the first and second World War, with many Moroccan players going away to fight.[26] Like many other Maghreb nations, Moroccan rugby tended to look to Europe for inspiration, rather than to the rest of Africa.

Notable Moroccan players include:

Ice Hockey

Morocco was admitted into the International Ice Hockey Federation on May 22, 2010.[27]

Hosting international sports

Morocco had vied many times for hosting the FIFA World Cup, mostly notably losing to Canada/Mexico/United States in 2026 to be the first by three countries to host the tournament.

Morocco hosted the 2019 African Games in Rabat; it was the first time that the country hosted the event. It was the largest African Games ever and the largest sporting event to be hosted by Morocco.

In 2019, it was announced that Morocco would host the inaugural African Para Games in Rabat in January 2020.[28] however, due to poor relations between the Africa Paralympic Committee and the country's authorities, Morocco withdrew and the event took place in Cairo, Egypt.

Stadiums

See also: List of indoor arenas in Morocco

See also

References

  1. ^ "BBC Two - Faster, Higher, Stronger - Hicham El Guerrouj". BBC. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  2. ^ "African Nations Cup 1988". RSSSF. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  3. ^ Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Countdown to FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2013 well underway". CAFOnline.com. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  4. ^ "Morocco replace Kenya as CHAN hosts". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  5. ^ Kasraoui, Safaa. "Morocco Confirmed as Host of FIFA Club World Cup 2022". moroccoworldnews. Retrieved 2022-12-24.
  6. ^ Yabiladi.com. "Moroccan athelete [sic] Hicham El Guerrouj is pessimistic about national athleticism". en.yabiladi.com. Retrieved 2019-03-21.
  7. ^ "Wydad Casablanca, Rankings and Statistics". Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  8. ^ "African Champions' Cup". RSSSF. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
  9. ^ "CAF Champions League - Champions". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
  10. ^ "CAF Cup and Confederation Cup". RSSSF. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  11. ^ Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Laayoune ready for Futsal party | Total Futsal Africa Cup of Nations". CAFOnline.com. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  12. ^ Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Octet hunt for Futsal crown in Morocco | Total Futsal Africa Cup of Nations". CAFOnline.com. Retrieved 2022-06-28.
  13. ^ "Futsal 2020: Morocco Wins African Cup of Nations – The North Africa Post". Retrieved 2022-06-28.
  14. ^ Soliman, Seif (2021-05-29). "Morocco win first Arab Futsal Cup after thrashing Egypt". KingFut. Retrieved 2022-06-28.
  15. ^ Latrech, Oumaima. "Morocco Defeats Iraq, Wins 2022 Arab Futsal Cup". moroccoworldnews. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  16. ^ Haskouri, Khouloud. "Brazil Ends Morocco's Impressive, Historic Participation in 2021 Futsal World Cup". moroccoworldnews. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  17. ^ "Morocco make history in world futsal". Atalayar. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  18. ^ Zouiten, Sara. "Morocco Beats Iran, Wins 2022 Continental Futsal Championship". Morocco World News.
  19. ^ "Morocco Wins Continental Futsal Championship in Thailand – The North Africa Post". Retrieved 2022-09-16.
  20. ^ "OUADDAR Abdelkebir - Olympic Equestrian | Morocco". 2016-08-22. Archived from the original on 2016-08-22. Retrieved 2019-03-21.
  21. ^ Mills, Peter (12 October 2014). "Shanghai WTCC: Mehdi Bennani scores Honda's first 2014 win". autosport.com. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  22. ^ "Looking ahead to the Morocco Cup 2002". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2017-12-16.
  23. ^ "Morocco Cup". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2017-12-16.
  24. ^ Morocco (MAR), FIBA
  25. ^ "Rwanda Kicks Off Quest for Africa Women's Volleyball Championship Against Morocco". Damas Sikubwabo (AllAfrica). 12 September 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  26. ^ a b Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN 1-86200-013-1) p71
  27. ^ "Welcome Morocco". www.iihf.com. Archived from the original on 2010-12-28.
  28. ^ "All set for first African Para Games". Paralympic. April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
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