CAN 2025: Watching matches in cafes, a luxury for Moroccans?

The start of the competition has transformed the cafes of the Kingdom into veritable popular stands, but the experience has a cost. On social networks, Internet users denounce large disparities: while some managers play the game by maintaining their usual prices, others take advantage of the enthusiasm to introduce entry tickets or increase the price of refreshments. This commercialization of the passion for football transforms the cafe, a place of conviviality par excellence, into a space of priced services where the law of supply and demand dictates its rule.

Faced with the controversy, Noureddine Harrak, president of the National Association of Cafe and Restaurant Owners, is reassuring. He assures, with Hespress, that instructions have been given to avoid abuses and preserve the festive spirit of this month of competition. According to him, the increases remain "marginal" and only concern establishments offering specific services, such as entertainment or heavy logistical organization requiring additional staff.

On the side of consumer advocates, the observation is more pragmatic. Bouazza Kherrati, president of the Moroccan Union of Consumer Rights, recalls that the law authorizes freedom of prices, with only one strict condition: the clear display of rates. If the consumer is theoretically free to change establishments if he considers the offer too expensive, this freedom sometimes collides with the lack of alternatives in certain neighborhoods. Although commercial opportunism is legal as long as transparency is respected, the call is made to find a balance between profitability and social responsibility during this unifying event.