Morocco Rewards Olympic Champions: El Bakkali and Atlas Lions Secure Millions in Bonuses

The Moroccan double world champion Soufiane El Bakkali will receive 2 million dirhams. On Wednesday, he won the 3,000m steeplechase final at the Paris Olympic Games, in a race marked by the heavy fall of the Ethiopian Lamecha Girma. He clocked 8:06.05, faster than the time that had allowed him to win gold in Tokyo in 2021. For their part, the Atlas Lions, in a 100% African duel, corrected Egypt (6-0) in the bronze medal match of the Olympic football tournament in Paris on Thursday, thus winning their first bronze medal. Each Moroccan player will receive 400,000 Moroccan dirhams.

A few days before the start of the Paris Olympic Games, the Moroccan National Olympic Committee had set the bonuses for Moroccan medalists. For a gold medal, the bonus is set at 2 million dirhams, and the silver medalist at 1.25 million dirhams. As for the bronze medalist, the athlete will receive 750,000 dirhams. Athletes who set a world record during the Olympic Games will receive one million dirhams, and 500,000 dirhams for an Olympic record. Bonuses ranging from 300,000 dirhams for fourth place to 50,000 dirhams for places 21st to 32nd in individual sports are also planned.

For team sports with 2 to 4 members, the gold medal is worth 1 million dirhams, the silver medal 750,000 dirhams, and the bronze medal 500,000 dirhams. Similarly, the bonuses will range between 33,000 dirhams and 200,000 dirhams for teams composed of 2 to 4 members, and between 25,000 dirhams and 150,000 dirhams for teams of more than 5 members. The technical supervisors responsible for the preparation of the qualified athletes, whose names appear in the agreements signed between the Moroccan National Olympic Committee and the Royal Moroccan Federations, are not left in the dark. Their bonuses represent 50% of the total amount of rewards allocated to the athletes’ performances at these games.

To calculate these bonuses, the Moroccan National Olympic Committee says it has taken into account the specificities of each sport, the type of competition, and the final ranking of each athlete, "in accordance with the conditions of behavior and ethics" defined by the Olympic committee. In total, 60 Moroccan athletes have joined France to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. They represent Morocco in 19 different sports such as football, boxing and athletics.