Luqja: Sporting Successes Are a Royal Vision

Fawzi Luqja, President of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, emphasized on Friday that the series of successes achieved by national football, the latest of which is the victory of the national B team in the Arab Cup, is the result of King Mohammed VI's vision, which was shaped by his message to the National Sports Forum as a roadmap. He affirmed that "there is no fear for the future performance of the national teams" given the accumulation of generations of football talents.

Luqja said, during his appearance alongside Moroccan international Achraf Hakimi as guests on the program "Guest of the Passport" via the "Youth Passport" platform, that the message sent by King Mohammed VI to the National Sports Forum "is a clear, precise, and comprehensive roadmap for developing the sports sector in Morocco; it includes various aspects related to governance, professionalism, infrastructure, and others."

He added that the King proceeded to implement this path on the ground by inaugurating the Mohammed VI Football Academy one year after the forum, followed by the Mohammed VI Football Complex in 2019.

He considered that this complex today represents a real space for developing capabilities with a professional methodology that does not differ at all from the standards applied in advanced countries in this field.

He mentioned that this integrated equation of Moroccan training and supervision, which has produced the success of several national coaches, including Skitioui, Rekraki, Wahbi, and others, "can only yield elite youth who have made their mark in various age groups, both female and male, and in different categories of football."

Luqja sees this as "the beginning of a path that places Morocco among the leading countries in the football field," adding that "football cannot be isolated from the developmental path led by" King Mohammed VI.

Regarding the national league, the president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation explained that "what we lacked were prerequisite requirements for professionalism," and these have been addressed, according to him, through first the institutional aspect by establishing sports companies, secondly the infrastructure, where clubs will later benefit from the Africa Cup of Nations stadiums, and thirdly the broadcasting rights (as the National Company of Radio and Television will broadcast the league with global expertise).

He stressed that "football talent exists in the national league," evidenced by the results of the African Nations Championship and the participation of league players in Qatar, where they competed against teams that played in the World Cup, such as Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

In this regard, Luqja said: "When we add the development of the institutional and marketing aspects, the league will develop to reach the pace of the national teams."

The sports official reassured that "football at the level of the national teams cannot be feared in the future," noting that Hakimi, for example, "is still capable of participating in the 2026 World Cup, as well as the 2030 edition."

He added: "He will be joined by the generation that won the Under-20 World Cup and performed well in the Under-17 category," in addition to "a group of players who are emerging today and have not yet joined the national team."

Luqja confirmed that "we have entered a continuous cycle of accumulating generations; every year we have more than 25 national teams, male and female, including futsal, across various age groups."

He pointed out that "more than half of the team that participated in the Africa Cup included new players."