Morocco’s Royal Football Federation (FRMF), Toulouse FC and Moroccans are gathering to defend national footballer Zakaria Aboukhlal, following an article accusing the international of religious extremism.
Headed by Fouzi Lekjaa, the FRMF announced its intention to take legal action against Moroccan news website Achkayen, after the slander the player has been subjected to.
This comes after accusations of advocating “Salafism” made by the site against Aboukhlal, which FRMF categorically denied, as the article painted an image of the player that both club and country deemed necessary to defend.
Toulouse Football Club, Aboukhlal’s team, defended its player and condemned Achkayen’s accusations.
“Toulouse Football Club condemns the accusations made by a website against our player Zakaria Aboukhlal and joins forces with the Moroccan Football Federation to ensure its full support and confidence in our player,” tweeted Toulouse FC.
“The Club condemns the false, unfounded and degrading accusations made by this website, which damage the image of our player, and reserves the right to use all the means available to defend Zakaria’s image and integrity,” it added.
During the World Cup, German channel Welt presented in a broadcast three players from the Moroccan National Team, as followers of the Islamic State, among whom was Aboukhlal.
This private news and documentary television channel targeted players Abdelhamid Sabiri, Ilias Chaiir and Zakaria Aboukhlal with this accusation for the fact that they posed, in a photo, with the Moroccan flag, waving their arms and pointing their right index finger up. Which constitutes “a greeting that the so-called Islamic State has adopted.
The fighters often pose with this gesture after the conquests”, from the point of view of the German television channel.
The game played in the evening of the photo was Morocco’s 2-0 win vs Belgium, where Aboukhlal sealed the victory for Morocco in a world class performance by the Atlas Lions with a late goal.
On December 23, Arabic news website Achkayen published an opinion piece where it mentioned the German media’s report, recalling Aboukhlal’s behavior and its view on the player’s person.
Achkayen deems that the author of Morocco’s second goal against Belgium was exploiting his goal and all the successes of the national team to promote the Salafist rite, especially between the players of the national team.
Achkayen’s article, which has been deleted after its heavy downfall with many entities and public opinion, described the player’s behavior as degrading for Moroccans, but an example for salafists, in which it describes their opinion of Aboukhlal as “A role model for what character he is for all muslim youth wishing for a place in Heaven.”
“Following the publication by one of the websites of an article relating to the person and behavior of Moroccan international Zakaria Aboukhlal during his participation with the national team at the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation categorically denies the false accusations that affected him in this article,” said the FRMF in a press release released on Sunday.
The Federation specifies that “the player has shown exemplary behavior alongside his colleagues in order to obtain honorable results with the national team in this world cup”.
The Federation expressed “its firm condemnation of the attacks made by this site on the person and behavior of the player Zakaria Aboukhlal, and through him, the image of the national team with all its components”, the FRMF declares that it “will use legal measures to protect the members of the national football team and refute all false allegations affecting their behavior or their personal life in the exercise of their national functions.”
Achkayen’s article sparked a wide condemnation of the news website on social media and strong support for Aboukhlal.
“Total support for Zakaria Aboukhlal, who faces a campaign of demonization from shameful media and hateful pseudo-journalists like Tijini and others” tweeted Kalima.
Achkayen is owned by Mohammed Tijini, a former host of the flagship “Daïf Al Oula” program, a bimonthly program of political debate of the national Al Oula TV channel.
Achkayen deleted the article and published a response after the heavy blow, where they consider the events a “misunderstanding”, mentioning the difference between Middle Eastern and Moroccan practise of Islam, and denouncing opinions that target the institution and not the article itself, which they deemed “unfair.”
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