Morocco, Spain Discuss Health Service Preparations for 2030 FIFA World Cup

Morocco’s Bouchra Karboubi has been ranked the fifth best woman referee in the world by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) as part of its 2024 Awards.

Karboubi was crowned Women’s Referee of the Year during the 2024 CAF Awards ceremony, held on December 16 in Marrakech. 

She was the first Arab woman to officiate an African Cup of Nations game as the main referee, at the 2023 AFCON in Côte d’Ivoire, and also took to the whistle at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, held in Australia and New Zealand. 

Karboubi also had the privilege of becoming the first woman to officiate a Botola Pro D1 first division football game, in addition to being appointed to referee the 2019-2020 Throne Cup final. 

Earlier this year, the Moroccan referee was awarded the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award as “Best Arab Football Referee.”

England’s Rebecca Welch topped the IFFHS ranking of the world’s best women referees in 2024, ahead of France’s Stéphanie Frappart and Sweden’s Tess Olofsson.

 Morocco has become over the past few years “a burgeoning football superpower”, said The New York Times in a story highlighting the progress made by the Kingdom in developing its sport facilities, improving scouting and strengthening training of young talents, in addition to sporting performances, including reaching the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup.

“Morocco has made itself a central hub for the continent in football terms — a position strengthened by the announcement that FIFA will open its first permanent African headquarters in Marrakech,” said the US newspaper in an op-ed published under the title “How Morocco became a burgeoning football superpower”.

In its specialised supplement “The Athletic”, the New York Times recalled that the Kingdom became in 2022 the first African or Arab nation to reach a World Cup semi-final.

“It was widely hailed as one of the competition’s great underdog stories, capturing hearts and minds well beyond the continent, but it did not happen by accident,” it pointed out, adding that Morocco’s “newfound position was only possible because of huge investment in sports facilities.”

One of the most striking is the state-of-the-art Mohammed VI football academy, it said, adding that the facility, located just outside Rabat, covers an area of 2.5km squared and boasts a school, medical centre and four pitches.

By 2017, five other regional training centres were built in different parts of the country, the daily said, adding that the Grand Stade Hassan II, which is being constructed with a planned capacity of 115,000, “will be the largest football ground in the world and a symbol of the country’s new-found status as one of the world game’s emerging powers.”

Many in the country hope the stadium will stage the 2030 World Cup’s final, the U.S. publication said, adding that before that World Cup, Morocco is also scheduled to host the next five editions of the Under-17 Women’s World Cup, annually from 2025, and, in April, capital city Rabat is expected to host the next World Football Summit, a meeting involving the game’s leaders and industry experts.

“Scouting has improved in Morocco, as have the facilities that can be deployed to develop local talent,” the newspaper stressed, adding that last summer the OCP Group signed a deal with the football federation and private partners to create a “national training fund dedicated to the professionalisation of training centres and the promotion of young talent.”

“Leading Moroccan clubs, with quality infrastructures behind them, have started to fill the prime places in Africa’s continental competitions: Casablanca’s Wydad lifted the CAF Champions League in 2017 and 2022 and their city rivals Raja won the CAF Confederation Cup in 2018 and 2021,” the New York Times pointed out.

 Morocco’s Lamia Boumehdi, winner of this year’s African Champions League with DR Congo’s TP Mazembe, won the Women’s Football Coach of the Year award at the CAF Awards 2024 ceremony in Marrakech on Monday.

Her team, TP Mazembe, had previously been named Women’s Club of the Year during the same ceremony.

Morocco will house the headquarters of FIFA Africa Office, under the terms of an agreement signed on Monday evening in Marrakech.

Inked by Morocco’s Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and President of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) Fouzi Lekjaa, the agreement to host the African Office of the International Football Federation in Morocco falls in line with FIFA’s role in the advancement and promotion of football, while taking into account the universal, educational and cultural impact of the sport.

In addition, it aims to accompany and support all initiatives and projects aimed at developing football in Africa.

The signing of this agreement also reflects Morocco’s ongoing commitment to promoting football, and confirms FRMF’s key role as a member of FIFA.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Moroccan government and the FRMF undertake to implement measures to accompany and support FIFA’s projects. These include assisting FIFA with all the steps involved in staging its African Office in Morocco and making premises available to the office.

Both parties are also committed to facilitating the settlement in Morocco of the Federation’s foreign employees, and to assisting FIFA’s African Office with all administrative procedures required for its activities.

Speaking on the occasion, Akhannouch said that staging FIFA’s African Office reflects the trust put by international sporting institutions in Morocco, which just experienced a historic week following the Kingdom’s official nomination as 2030 World Cup host, alongside Spain and Portugal.

He also pledged that the Moroccan government would work to ease procedures involved in setting up and running the office.

For his part, Infantino welcomed signing the agreement for the headquarters of the FIFA Africa Office in Morocco, noting that the office would contribute to elevating Moroccan, African and world football. 

“This is a historic and exceptional day for FIFA, for Morocco and for the whole of Africa”, he said.

Infantino seized the opportunity to express his sincere gratitude to HM King Mohammed VI, who, he stated, is tirelessly working to promote the advancement of football in Africa.

FIFA’s President also praised the growth of Moroccan football and efforts made in this field by the FRMF and the government.

In turn, CAF President Patrice Motsepe expressed his gratitude to HM the King, the Moroccan government and people, as well as the FRMF for the Kingdom’s contributions to African football, adding that CAF is proud of Morocco’s achievements, both on and off the pitch.

The agreement for the headquarters of the FIFA Africa Office in Morocco was signed at the Congress Palace in Marrakech on the sidelines of the CAF Awards 2024 ceremony.

The choice of Morocco to co-organize the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal is a recognition of the Kingdom’s efforts to promote the beautiful game in Africa, President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Patrice Motsepe, said on Monday in Marrakech.

Morocco, under the wise leadership of HM King Mohammed VI, contributed greatly to developing football in Africa, by building a high-level sporting infrastructure, which has benefited many African countries, Motsepe said during the CAF Awards 2024 ceremony.

Noting that Morocco has always set the example, Motsepe urged African countries to follow in the Kingdom’s footsteps in terms of infrastructure development, particularly in sports.

The official thanked HM King Mohammed VI and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation for their efforts to promote the development of football in Africa.

He also thanked FIFA for the trust it has placed in Africa by entrusting Morocco with hosting the World Cup, expressing his conviction that the 2030 edition will belong to the entire African continent. 

Morocco hosted the CAF Awards ceremony for the third year running, after 2022 at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Maâmoura (near Salé) and 2023 in Marrakech.

Moroccan internationals, Yassine Bouno, Achraf Hakimi and Soufiane Rahimi have been shortlisted for the “The Best FIFA Men’s XI” award, the world soccer’s governing body announced on its official website on Friday.

Yassine Bouno was crowned Saudi Arabian champion with Al-Hilal, Achraf Hakimi won the French championship with Paris Saint-Germain, while Soufiane Rahimi won the Asian Champions League with Al-Aïn, where he was top scorer.

Hakimi and Rahimi also won bronze medals with the national team at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Other African players in contention for a place in the FIFA XI include Gabonese and Nigerian strikers Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ademola Lookman, and South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.

The Best FIFA Men’s and Women’s XI awards recognize the world’s best players in their respective positions, nominating players on the basis of their performances between August 21, 2023 and August 10, 2024.