Hassan Benamer: National Team’s Rise Has Not Reached Morocco’s Domestic League

Hassan Benamer, a member of the National Rally of Independents (RNI) parliamentary group, called on Tuesday for faster creation of regional football academies. Before the Finance and Economic Development Committee of the House of Representatives, he said the national team’s progress has yet to reach the clubs of the professional league.

The MP spoke during the committee’s debate on measures linked to hosting the World Cup 2030, examined as part of the 2027 finance bill. Moroccan football has made major strides by any measure, he said, and the national team is now held in high regard by the world’s leading football nations. Professional clubs and other national teams, however, have not seen the same improvement.

Benamer argued that the national team’s level demands extra effort to develop domestic football, so that progress does not stay confined to national selections. He cited the Mohammed VI Football Academy as a model that has delivered significant results, and said regional academies would spread training and coaching across the Kingdom and help clubs become more competitive. He also pointed to results in futsal as evidence of potential that warrants continued investment and training.

Hosting the tournament successfully should not be the only goal, he said. It should also serve to develop the whole national football system, letting the professional league and local clubs benefit from the sport’s momentum.

The MP also raised the jobs the tournament is expected to create, focusing on workers in app-based ride services. The sector keeps growing despite unresolved legal questions, he noted, with many young people and students working limited daily hours without a clear legal framework, while national and international companies offer the service to citizens and tourists alike.

He urged the government to use the World Cup preparations to speed up regulation of the activity, noting that visitors arriving in Morocco for the event will need transport, whether taxis or app-based services.