APA-Rabat (Morocco) The award won by King Mohammed VI is in recognition of the positive influence of the Moroccan sovereign in African football.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) President’s Excellence Award for the best achievements of the year 2022 was awarded to the Moroccan king during a ceremony held on Tuesday 14 March in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
The Minister of National Education, Preschool and Sports, Chakib Benmoussa, received the award on behalf of King Mohammed VI, during the ceremony which took place in the presence of FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, CAF President, Patrice Motsepe, the President of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), Fouzi Lekjaa, the CAF Executive Committee and the presidents of CAF member associations.
Famous names in football, including Arsène Wenger, former Arsenal manager, Ivorian Didier Drogba, Brazilian legend Cafu, Nigerian Ayegbeni Yakubu and former Black Stars player Asamoah Gyan graced the event.
The award caps an exceptional year for Moroccan football both at club and national team level, crowned by the historic performance of the Atlas Lions who reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in Qatar, a first for African representative at the football tournament.
Moroccan teams have also distinguished themselves in the two CAF interclub competitions, namely the Champions League and the CAF Cup.
At the end of May, Wydad Casablanca won the Champions League, while Renaissance Sportive de Berkane (RSB) claimed the African Football Confederation (CAF) Cup.
Thus, for the first time, two Moroccan clubs will compete for the African Supercup, which illustrates the growth of Moroccan football in recent years.
Women’s football has not been left out, with two major achievements: the qualification of the female national team, for the first time in its history, to the 2023 World Cup, which will be jointly organised by Australia and New Zealand, and the continental title of AS FAR.
This development of Moroccan football is the result of colossal amount of work undertaken in terms of infrastructure and the promotion of human resource capacity.
At the heart of Morocco’s success in the Qatar 2022 World Cup, a structure of excellence has played a major role: the Mohammed VI Academy.
This structural project aims to boost training at the local level while reflecting the royal interest in a sector that has become very promising.
This royal project aims to promote football and its development through the identification and training of talented footballers, some of whom now form the backbone of the national team that reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2022, a first in the history of Arab and African football.
Inaugurated in March 2010 by the sovereign, this academy allows the training of young people for elite football both in Morocco and abroad, by meeting international standards and by offering a suitable framework as well as optimal conditions of comfort and security.
This centre of excellence is equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure and equipment in accordance with the standards of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), which makes it one of the most important in the world.
It is intended to host Moroccan national teams in training, as well as foreign national teams.
This project is part of upgrading sports infrastructures started by Morocco more than a decade ago.
HA/lb/as/APA