TEvery two years the African Cup of Nations, the CAN, takes place, a major sporting event that arouses the enthusiasm of football fans across the continent. The next CAN is scheduled to begin on December 21 in Morocco. During the tournament, all eyes are on the host country, won by a special excitement and a feeling of national pride.
Morocco has great ambitions in the field of sport and, as part of its economic diversification strategy, wishes to focus on major sporting events to attract investors and tourists. The kingdom is thus co-organizing the 2030 Football World Cup with Spain and Portugal, hosted a women’s CAN in July and would be a candidate for the organization of an F1 Grand Prix.
According to several journalistic investigations, the Moroccan authorities have spent billions on infrastructure intended for the CAN and the 2030 World Cup, and are notably building a new football stadium in Casablanca which could be the largest in the world. These ambitious projects have provoked strong reactions within Moroccan society.
From September 27, thousands of young Moroccans took to the streets during protests of the GenZ 212 movement across the country, demanding an improvement in the health and education systems, as well as an end to corruption. The demonstrators notably denounced the gap between the brand new stadiums and infrastructures planned for sports competitions and the failing public services. “We want hospitals, not stadiums”the demonstrators chanted in particular. Some would have called for a boycott of the CAN.
No responses to protests
According to the World Health Organization, Morocco’s public health spending reached only 2.3% of its GDP in 2022, less than half of the international reference threshold set at a minimum of 5%. But Morocco should give as much importance to health and education as to football.
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