Moroccan Rugby Star Karim Qadiri Leads Grenoble’s Pro D2 Resurgence

Karim Qadiri’s path is atypical, as he was trained at the Massy Essonne rugby club. "Massy is my city. I was born there, I left at the age of 20. From my birth to my 20 years, I never left my club." Even though he ended up leaving his hometown, he didn’t go very far. "I didn’t necessarily have the opportunity to go to a pro club when I left the training center. My goal was to get back into the pro world as quickly as possible and that meant playing in Fédérale 1 and getting a lot of playing time. I went to Beaune in Burgundy and I knew that by joining them I would have a lot of playing time," reports acturugby.

Of all the matches played, Karim Qadiri admits to having felt something special when playing for Morocco. "It’s a source of pride because the image of an entire country is behind it. These are emotions... I don’t know how to say it... It has nothing to do with a club match, there is a whole symbol and a whole... I’m losing my words... There is a history behind it. It’s the country of my parents, the culture I grew up with at home," confides the Grenoble winger. Unfortunately, his story with the Moroccan national rugby team ended at 4 caps due to the sanction that has been affecting the Moroccan Federation since 2020.

In the meantime, he continues to improve to become even better. Last season, he scored 12 tries, but for the current one, he is at 11 realizations while he still has 9 matches to play with Grenoble. He hopes to reach at least 15 tries by the end of the season. If his parents are his role models, his idol in the game is the late Jonah Lomu, a New Zealand rugby player, who died on November 18, 2015 in Auckland. "He’s kind of the type of player I’d like to become. I’m still very far from Jonah Lomu, but we draw inspiration from the greats to progress, but maybe one day I’ll be able to match his level. But hope keeps us going as they say."

To get away, regain strength to come back even stronger in the game, Karim Qadiri has turned to video games and computer science, his second passion. "My PC is maybe the fifth one I’ve built since I was 18. My first one, I built it when I was 18. I build them all by myself, I buy the parts. It’s my hobby. Once I put on my headset and sit down in front of my PC, it’s my bubble, it’s my moment to myself in the day. It’s a moment I enjoy spending alone," the player confides.