Morocco Coach Calls for Forgiveness After Racist Incident at Team Hotel

"The players were very touched and the Moroccan people too. I don’t think we should make too much of it, it’s a young boy and he’ll learn from it. Now with social media, there are children who are lost. Racism exists, but I think we need to look at this boy’s social life and I don’t want to "kill" him," coach Regragui said at a press conference on the racist remarks of the hotel employee who was arrested.

And he added: "We are Muslims and in our religion, we learn to forgive. Let’s forgive him, let him find out about it. Maybe he’ll set an example for others to be careful when they make posts on social media. The best example we can show is to forgive him, make him see that he made a mistake and that he learns from it, that he sees that what he thinks about Muslims is not good."

For the coach of the Atlas Lions, the hotel is not responsible for the act of its employee. "He can’t do anything, it’s a human issue, he can’t control his employees. We won’t address the issue anymore, it’s over. We forgive him and surely the Moroccans too," said Regragui, who did not fail to address the preparations of the Moroccan team for the match against Peru, which he considers a "great team".

"The recent victory against Brazil gives us great encouragement. After the World Cup, some might have thought it was luck, but with the match against Brazil, we have shown that we are a team that deserves what it has done," stressed coach Regragui, before concluding: "But it’s Ramadan, there are a lot of injured, we’re losing a lot of important players. Those who will come in must show that they have their place in this team."