Morocco National Team Evacuated from Guinea Following Military Coup

The Moroccan players were repatriated on Sunday evening. They had remained blocked in their hotel before being evacuated by plane. Relieved to have been able to escape a situation that could have lasted, the players and their coach warmly thanked King Mohammed VI for his intervention.

"It wasn’t easy to wake up and hear bursts of gunfire until a certain hour and tell yourself that anything can escalate at any moment. We went to Guinea for a football match and we find ourselves in the middle of sustained gunfire, a political conflict. We’ve never experienced this before and so it wasn’t easy. The uncertainty, the fear, but fortunately the king got involved to make our trip to Rabat possible," said the captain of the Atlas Lions Romain Saïss.

Same reaction from Vahid Halilhodzic who has already experienced a similar situation. "This day is quite strange. We woke up to the sound of gunfire, and throughout the day it was still gunfire. It wasn’t easy to manage the anxiety, the uncertainty. We immediately canceled the training, the match after. Everyone was stuck at the hotel waiting to find a solution to leave the country safely. On behalf of the entire team, I thank King Mohammed VI who personally got involved to allow us to return," said the coach of the national team.