Moroccan Football Mogul’s Trial Delayed as Singer Latifa Raafat Summoned in ’Desert Escobar’ Case

On Friday, the criminal chamber of first instance at the Court of Appeal of Casablanca decided to postpone the trial of Saïd Naciri and his co-defendants to Friday, May 23, 2025. Before the postponement, the former president of the Wydad club reiterated his request to have the Moroccan singer Latifa Raafat and the deputy Abdelouahed Chouki summoned for a direct confrontation. His request seems to have received the approval of Judge Ali Tarchi. The magistrate told him that the court will rule on the matter in due course. In other words, the deliberation will examine the request and decide whether or not to summon the two mentioned persons.

For Saïd Naciri’s lawyer, his client’s trial is "remarkable". He stated that his client was responding to the court with documents and facts and that he had mentioned a person by name during the trial, in this case a deputy, and had accused him of inciting witnesses to give false testimony. He had statements from people attesting that two individuals had contacted them and urged them to testify "falsely", he added.

During the hearing on April 18 in the criminal chamber of first instance at the Court of Appeal of Casablanca, Naciri refuted the accusations against him based on the statements of the Malian trafficker Mohamed Benbrahim. He denounced a "conspiracy" and claimed that the documents presented in the file are "falsified". He stated that the acquisition of the villa in California was effective in 2017, through a real estate company that he jointly owns with his son.