Moroccan Football Club Presidents Win Seats in Parliament Election

For some of these new elected officials, it is a first experience. Before Wednesday, September 8, they were only football club officials. This is the case of the president of Wydad de Casablanca, Said Naciri, a candidate of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), elected in the Casa-Anfa constituency. Within the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), there is Noureddine El Bidi, president of Youssoufia Berrechid and member of the executive committee, who was elected on the PAM list in Berrechid, reports La MAP.

There is also Hicham Aït Menna, president of Chabab Mohammedia, who ran on the list of the National Rally of Independents (RNI), and won a seat in the Mohammedia constituency, while the former president of Raja de Casablanca, Mohammed Boudrika, is also elected in Al Fida, under the banner of the same political party. Adil Diouf, former president of Ittihad de Tanger and head of the same party’s list in Tanger-Asilah, was also elected member of the House of Representatives.

The RNI seems to be the party that has recorded the most candidacies from football club presidents. Thus in the Oriental region, it is the president of Mouloudia Oujda, Mohammed Houar, who won a seat, while Hakim Benabdellah, president of the Renaissance de Berkane, won a seat in Berkane on the Istiqlal Party list. The deputy chairman of Olympique Dcheira, Ismail Zitouni, for his part, won a seat, still under the banner of the RNI in the Inzegan Aït Melloul constituency, while Hassan El Filali, president of Ittihad Zemmouri de Khémisset was elected in Tifelt Roumani, in the province of Khémisset.

As for Mohamed Joudar, a federal member and president of the Casablanca football league, he won a seat under the colors of the Constitutional Union (UC) in the Benmsik constituency in Casablanca.

The entry into parliament of these personalities will certainly accelerate the amendments to laws relating to youth and sports. Moreover, throughout the election campaign, some parties have proposed a set of mechanisms, including increasing the budget allocated to the sector, developing and improving its services through the development of a framework law for Moroccan sport, supporting public-private partnerships and creating an agency dedicated to high-level sport to manage sports affairs.