Former Moroccan Striker Kamel Ouejdide Dies at 44 After Long Illness

The sports world is in mourning. The former Caen striker succumbed to a long illness on Saturday, September 14, 2024, at the age of 44. Trained at ES Nanterre and then at Racing, the native of Rabat had joined Caen’s youth academy at the age of 16, at the same time as William Gallas, thanks to the same recruiter.

His professional career took off in February 1998 at the age of 18 with a first start in Ligue 2 during a Caen-Nice match at the Stade d’Ornano. Scoring the fourth and final goal of Caen’s victory over Amiens SC, his first goal in Ligue 2 on October 2, 1999, he had everything to achieve a brilliant football career. But a stress fracture in his foot, for which the doctors never really found a solution, would undermine the rest of his career. "A combination of little things. I was young. I didn’t control everything but, going from the first team at 16 to being without a club at 20, it was a real emotional shock that marked me," he recounted in 2021.

Loaned out, he joined Caen in 2001. But his physical problems prevented him from shining. He will ultimately find success far from France and partly in France. From Göztepe (Turkey, 2002-2003), to Racing Ferrol (Spain, 2008-2010), to Boussu Door Borinage (Belgium, 2010-2013), and finally to WS Bruxelles (2013-2014) via Fortuna Düsseldorf (Germany, 2003-2004), ASOA Valence (2004-2005), Clermont Foot (2006-2008), AS Cannes (2008), he managed to have a "nice little career".

Kamel Ouejdide retired between 2014 and 2015. He then retrained by running a restaurant for four years in Reuil and holding a position as a sports instructor for his municipality of residence.