Moroccan Star Fajr Addresses 2019 National Team Penalty Dispute with Hamdallah

We now know a little more about the clash between Fajr and Hamdallah (penaltygate). In a video posted on his Instagram account, Fayçal Fajr, the Moroccan midfielder, looked back on this dispute that had earned him criticism at the time. The Getafe player believes he respected the hierarchy established by the national coach at the time. "Hervé Renard had formed two teams to play each half. He designated Hakim Ziyech as the main penalty taker, followed by Younes Belhanda, for the first half. For the second half, he designated me as the first taker and then Hamdallah as the second."

"After obtaining a penalty in stoppage time against Gambia, which would have allowed his team to equalize, Hamdallah seized the ball," continues Fajr. "I went to see him to remind him that there was a hierarchy and that he should not create a problem," added the Getafe player.

Fayçal Fajr also claims that a dispute between Hamdallah and another international, whose identity he did not reveal, was rather at the origin of Hamdallah’s departure from the national team. Younès Belhanda is said to have tackled the Al Nasr player, who did not appreciate it at all. This was followed by a violent exchange between the two players, which almost escalated.

Not having obtained the support of Hervé Renard or that of the captain of the Atlas Lions at the time, Mehdi Benatia, the former player of Olympic Safi felt rejected by the squad and preferred to leave.