Former Moroccan Soccer Star Warns of Rising Racism in European Football

"Racism has been with me all my life. The swing to the right across Europe is very worrying and also a bit frightening," Azzouzi confides to Nurnberger Nachrichten. The rise of far-right movements and racism in Europe remains a concern for the former sporting director of the German club, SpVgg Greuther Furth.

Born in Fez, Morocco, he was raised in Germany, where he never felt at home. He says he has felt racism deep within himself. According to him, it is a normalized practice in this European country. Having become a legend of the Greuther Fürth club, he claims he did not escape racism and discrimination. "Here in Furth, as a player, I was called a camel by individuals," he recalls.

Azzouzi, 49, played for several clubs, including MSV Duisburg, Fortuna Köln and Greuther Fürth, all in Germany, except for Chongqing Lifan in China. With the Moroccan national team, he had participated in the 1992 Summer Olympics, the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the 1998 FIFA World Cup.