Moroccan Soccer Stars Risk Lives Swimming to Spain: Desperation Fuels Dangerous Exodus

The young footballer plays for the M’diq women’s team. Khadija would have made this perilous journey with a friend. The reasons for her departure remain, for the moment, unknown. Before her, two players from Moghreb Tétouan - Ayman Achour, a former Moroccan under-17 international, and the Moroccan defender Mohamed Zeitouni - entered Ceuta the same way a few weeks ago before being placed in the Temporary Stay Center for Immigrants (CETI) in Ceuta. These two footballers left in search of a better life.

Mohamed Zeitouni first walked several kilometers along the Moroccan coast to avoid being spotted. Then he swam for nearly half an hour in difficult conditions before reaching the coast. Ayman Achour undertook this sea crossing at the risk of his life, after learning that his club had decided to part ways with him. The young player swam for more than three hours, in unfavorable weather conditions, before reaching the coast of Ceuta, completely exhausted. They both hope to relaunch their professional careers in Spain.

In the eyes of observers, these cases illustrate the confrontation between sporting ambition and social and economic pressures. "Victims of the neglect and mediocrity of sports infrastructure," the players hope to build their careers abroad, some of them believe. Others argue that these crossings are simply part of a broader movement of irregular migration, affecting people from all backgrounds.