Sport in Morocco

Sport in Morocco

Sports in Morocco refers to the sports played in the Kingdom of Morocco. As of 2007, Moroccan society participated in many sports, including handball, football, golf, tennis, basketball, and athletics. Hicham El Guerrouj, a retired middle distance runner for Morocco, won two gold medals for Morocco at the Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Football

Morocco national football team

Morocco national under-23 football team

Morocco national under-20 football team

Morocco women's national football team

GNF 1

GNF 2

GNFA

Pickle racing

Motorsport

Moroccan Grand Prix (Formula One, sports car, and touring car racing)

Marrakech Street Circuit (World Touring Car Championship)

Stadiums

Stade d'Agadir (under construction)

Stade Cheikh Laaghdef

Stade Complexe Sportif

Stade d'Honneur

Stade Larbi Zaouli

Stade Mohammed V

Stade Moulay Abdellah

Stade de Tanger

Stade de Marrakech

Complexe OCP

Saniat Rmel

Stade Al Inbiaâte

Stade El Abdi

Stade El Harti

Stade El Massira

Stade Marche Verte

Stade Municipal (Kenitra)

Stade Sidi Bernoussi

Stade d'Honneur (Meknes)

Stade de Marchan

Stade du 20 Août

Complexe Al Amal de Casablanca

Cricket

Morocco national cricket team

Morocco hosted the 2002 Morocco Cup, which was well attended. Sri Lanka beat South Africa in the final.

Morocco boasts an ICC approved ground capable of hosting full internationals, the National Cricket Stadium in Tangier. It has so far hosted a One Day International triangular tournament, the Morocco Cup in 2002, where Sri Lanka won ahead of South Africa and Pakistan.

Basketball

Morocco, represented by the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Basket-Ball, has been affiliated to FIBA since 1936. The men's national team has won a FIBA Africa Championship title, won in 1965.

Rugby union

History

Rugby came to Morocco in the early 20th century, mainly by the French who occupied the country.[3] As a result, Moroccan rugby was tied to the fortunes of France during the two world wars, with many Moroccan players going away to fight.[3] Like many other Maghrebi nations, Moroccan rugby tended to look to Europe for inspiration, rather than to the rest of Africa.

The game became more firmly established in the 1950s, partly through the efforts of Mohammed Benjaloun, who would become president of the Moroccan Olympic Committee.[3]

The link with France has proven to be a mixed blessing.[2] On the one hand, many successful Moroccan players go on to play in the French Leagues, on the other, some Moroccans who should be playing for Morocco, have ended up playing for France, or refusing Moroccan caps in case they are ineligible for this.[2][3] An example of this is, Abdelatif Benazzi, a forward who played for the French club of Agen and won his first cap for France in 1990, playing 77 games after that.[2][3] Benazzi was supposed to play for Morocco, and arguably his absence cost them promotion to the next round of 1995 Rugby World Cup qualifiers, and allowed the Ivory Coast to get through.[3]

For a while, Morocco originally came under European rugby auspices, but is now integrated into the African structure.

Morocco is a founder member of the Confederation of African Rugby (CAR), which was launched officially in January 1986, in Tunis, Tunisia. Rugby officials from Tunisia, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Tanzania, Kenya, the Seychelles and Madagascar also attended.[4]

Notable Moroccan players include:

Abdelatif Benazzi

Said Boucha

Abdellatif Boutaty

Rachid Karmouchi

Djalil Narjissi

Christian Carrere, captain of France

National team

Morocco traditionally sees neighbours Spain as their rivals.[3] Morocco played its first international in 1931 against them.[2] After playing several games, they would not play another international until 1967, when they joined the European Nations Cup and FIRA.[2] Morocco made the first division in 1983 but was beaten easily by France and Romania. After falling down the rankings, Morocco left the European series and joined the African Cup competition and won it in 2003 and 2005.[2]

Their sevens side is regularly plays in the top circuit, doing very well in Hong Kong.

Hockey

Morocco was admitted into the International Ice Hockey Federation on May 22, 2010.

Morocco at the Olympics

Morocco first participated at the Olympic Games in 1960, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except when they participated in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics. Morocco also boycotted the 1976 Games, withdrawing after having initially sent a delegation. In doing so, Morocco joined the boycott of the Games by most African countries, in protest against New Zealand's participation following an All Blacks rugby match, unrelated to the Olympics, against an apartheid team from South Africa.[1] Only one Moroccon representative had time to compete before his country's withdrawal: Abderahim Najim took part in the Men's Light Flyweight event in boxing, and lost his first and only match.

Morocco has also participated in the Winter Olympic Games on four occasions since 1968, but not since 1992.

Moroccan athletes have won a total of twenty one medals, eighteen in athletics and three in boxing. Hicham El Guerrouj, with two gold medals and one silver medal, and Saïd Aouita, with one gold and one silver, are Morocco's two multiple medal winners.

Medal  Name                         Games                  Sport      Event

 Silver Rhadi Ben Abdesselam  1960 Rome          Athletics      Men's marathon

 Gold Nawal El Moutawakel  1984 Los Angeles  Athletics      Women's 400 metre hurdles

 Gold Saïd Aouita                  1984 Los Angeles  Athletics      Men's 5,000 metres

 Gold Brahim Boutayeb          1988 Seoul          Athletics      Men's 10,000 metres

 Bronze Saïd Aouita                  1988 Seoul          Athletics      Men's 800 metres

 Bronze Abdelhak Achik          1988 Seoul          Boxing      Men's featherweight

 Gold Khalid Skah                  1992 Barcelona  Athletics      Men's 10,000 metres

 Silver Rachid El Basir                  1992 Barcelona  Athletics      Men's 1,500 metres

 Bronze Mohammed Achik          1992 Barcelona  Boxing      Men's bantamweight

 Bronze Salah Hissou                  1996 Atlanta          Athletics      Men's 10,000 metres

 Bronze Khalid Boulami                  1996 Atlanta          Athletics      Men's 5,000 metres

 Silver Hicham El Guerrouj          2000 Sydney          Athletics      Men's 1,500 metres

 Bronze Ali Ezzine                          2000 Sydney          Athletics      Men's 3,000 metre steeplechase

 Bronze Nezha Bidouane          2000 Sydney          Athletics      Women's 400 metre hurdles

 Bronze Brahim Lahlafi                  2000 Sydney          Athletics      Men's 5,000 metres

 Bronze Tahar Tamsamani          2000 Sydney          Boxing      Men's featherweight

 Gold Hicham El Guerrouj          2004 Athens          Athletics      Men's 1,500 metres

 Gold Hicham El Guerrouj          2004 Athens          Athletics      Men's 5,000 metres

 Silver Hasna Benhassi                  2004 Athens          Athletics      Women's 800 metres

 Silver Jaouad Gharib                  2008 Beijing          Athletics      Men's marathon

 Bronze Hasna Benhassi                  2008 Beijing          Athletics      Women's 800 metres

 Bronze Abdalaati Iguider          2012 London          Athletics      Men's 1500 metres

The National Olympic Committee for Morocco was created in 1959.