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Moroccan supporters will not return to the stadiums for many months, but they will soon be able to console themselves by watching the matches on television. The Botola Pro D1 championship – the Moroccan Ligue 1 where sixteen clubs compete – will open on December 4 and end, if all goes well, on August 18.
The 2019-2020 season, interrupted in March, had resumed for a few weeks, between mid-August and October, the time to crown the Wydad Athletic Club (WAC) of Casablanca on the wire, to the detriment of Raja, his great local rival.
To ensure that the 2020-2021 season takes place under more or less normal conditions, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) has established a very strict health protocol. “We learned from the period from August to October”, explains Hamza El Hajoui, president of FUS in Rabat and vice-president of FRMF.
“PCR tests will be carried out by players and staff every two weeks. If at least eleven players, including a goalkeeper, plus four substitutes, are available, we will play, so as to avoid postponements of matches, as between August and October, when many teams were affected by Covid-19 ”, specifies the leader.
Former international Mustapha El Haddaoui, now president of the Moroccan Union of Professional Footballers (UMFP), welcomes these provisions. “Players, especially those from the most modest clubs, have suffered greatly from the economic consequences of the health crisis, with salaries which have not been paid in full or in part”, he recalls.
A recovery seen as a relief
“There are still many ongoing disputes. Some sponsors did not pay anything between March and August, because they themselves were in difficulty. Result: many clubs no longer had the resources to assume their responsibilities ”, he specifies. The sports ministry and the federation have granted each professional club aid of around 500,000 euros, while advocating rules of good governance.
“We don’t know until when this crisis will last”, worries Hamza El Hajoui. To cope, the clubs were encouraged to drastically control their spending, with the help of a National Control and Management Directorate (DNCG). The Moroccan championship, reputed to be a big consumer of coaches – some clubs use up to three per season – has seen a severe turn of the screw by the federation.
“A coach cannot, during the same season, coach two clubs from the same division, specifies the manager. For ethical reasons of course, but also financial ones. These layoffs end up costing the clubs dearly, while their finances are fragile because of the consequences of the health crisis. We also suggested to the players that they agree, for the months of October and November, to lower their salary by 50% maximum to help the clubs, on a voluntary basis. “
Despite this uncertain context, the recovery is seen as a relief. “Nervously, mentally, confinement was difficult for people used to intense activity”, underlines Mustapha El Haddaoui. Like many football fans in Morocco, the former Atlas Lions midfielder tries to project himself on the purely sporting aspect.
A battery of health measures
In the game of predictions, WAC and Raja are, unsurprisingly, the most often cited to register their name on the prize list, leaving Berkane, recent winner of the CAF Cup, to the two clubs of Rabat (FUS and FAR), or in Oujda the status of outsiders.
Further east, Tunisia is also preparing to see its championship restart, while the curfew is still in force and travel between governorates prohibited, except with special authorization. The resumption was initially considered on October 24, but the surge in the number of contaminations forced the Tunisian Football Federation (FTF) to change its schedule.
Esperance de Tunis, which holds the record for the most titles (30) and has won the last four editions, is considered the overwhelming favorite. As often, these main rivals – Sfax, Etoile du Sahel or the African Club – will probably fight for places of honor. A few days before the start of the 2020-2021 season, the city of Chebba was however the scene of riots, following the decision taken by the FTF to exclude the club from the championship for administrative reasons.
Tests 48 hours before the matches, behind closed doors, changing rooms reserved for players and technical staff, buses for players and minibuses for staff when traveling, no mixed areas for the press after matches …
To limit the risks of stopping professional championships, a battery of health measures has been imposed, as in Morocco. “Clubs would probably not recover from a further interruption of the championship for several months, breaths a leader. We had to start again, even if we do not really know where we are going with this epidemic. “
