The sports talents of Moroccans stand out throughout the world. More than 600 Moroccan players compete in European competitions, including 100 divided between France, Belgium and the Netherlands, revealed a recent study by the Council of the Moroccan Community Abroad (CCME) and the Royal Moroccan Federation of Soccer.
The study conducted jointly by the CCME and the FRMF called “Encyclopedias of Moroccan footballers of the world: For a sustainable mechanism for monitoring Moroccan football talents around the world” was presented on Friday at a press conference organized at the Salon de l’Edition et du Livre in Rabat, in the presence of the Atlas Lions, their coach Walid Regragui, the president of the FRMF, Fouzi Lekjaa, the Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mohammed Mehdi Bensaid, and Moroccan-Canadian comedian, Gad Elmaleh.
This analytical study focused on a total of 689 Moroccan players from 529 clubs from 45 countries, including 608 footballers who played in various European championships with 460 clubs in 28 countries, including France, Belgium and the Netherlands who have, alone, totaled more than 100 players. In addition, 298 players compete in the first divisions, considered the most prestigious, while more than 290 footballers play in the second division or amateurs.
With regard to the distribution of players on the field, the study reveals that 117 Moroccan footballers play as strikers and 218 in midfield on the right and left wings, while the number of goalkeepers does not exceed 25. players.
Furthermore, five clubs have more than five Moroccan players and 26 clubs have at least three players, while more than 420 clubs have only one Moroccan player in the squad.
As for the Asian championships, it turns out that the number of Moroccans amounts to 60 players distributed among 46 clubs in more than 10 countries, while the African clubs only include 11 players in 3 countries.
The authors of the study noted that the Asian continent only attracts 8.85% of Moroccan players. However, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar account for 71% of the total number of Moroccan footballers present in Asian leagues. The total financial value of these players in Asia amounts to more than 40 million euros, 13 out of 61 players are worth more than one million euros.
This average value also exceeds 1.7 million euros for the first European divisions, and 120,000 euros for players in the rest of the divisions.
For Fouzi Lekjaa, president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, “ this study confirms that Moroccans are present in all countries of the world and are evolving in all areas“, adding that ” the players of the Moroccan national team, who play in championships in a certain number of countries, are ambassadors of Morocco, bearers of its values and its culture“.