CAF President Describes Late Ahmed Faras as ‘Outstanding Leader, Both On & Off the Field’

Moroccan Watford forward Othmane Maamaa won the Best Young Player of the Year award during the CAF Awards ceremony, held Wednesday in Rabat.

Maamaa had previously been named Best Player at the U20 World Cup held last October in Chile, which was won by the Atlas Lion Cubs.

The Moroccan national team goalkeeper and Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) player, Yassine Bounou, was named Africa’s Best Goalkeeper for 2025 during the CAF Awards ceremony held Wednesday in Rabat.

Recognized for his outstanding performances with the Atlas Lions, Bounou was also selected in the FIFA Club World Cup Best XI, held last summer in the United States.

 AS FAR player Doha Madani won the Best Young Player of the Year award during the CAF Awards ceremony, held Wednesday evening in Rabat.

At 20 years old, the young Moroccan represents a true hope for Moroccan and African football.

Meanwhile, Tanzanian Clement Mzize, a TP Mazembe player, received the award for the Best Goal of the Year 2025.

Also nominated for the award were goals scored by Moroccans Oussama Lamlioui, forward for Renaissance Berkane, and Ghizlane Chebbak, captain of the Lionesses of the Atlas.

 In coordination with the relevant Moroccan authorities and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the Local Organizing Committee informs all supporters of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco that electronic visas to Morocco via the Yalla app for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) are now free of charge.

In a press release shared on Tuesday, the organizing committee reiterated that the FAN ID is mandatory for access to any stadium hosting the 2025 AFCON in Morocco, noting that applications for electronic visas and FAN IDs are processed simultaneously on the Yalla app.

According to the same source, the official website for the Yalla app for obtaining a FAN ID is: https://www.yallamorocco.ma. 

“In order to better assist applicants, a dedicated customer service line (+212 5 30 30 20 30) has been launched,” the press release says, adding that it is available in three languages (Arabic, English, and French) and has a team on hand to answer any questions and assist users 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

“Applicants can also contact the support team via email at [email protected],” the same source adds.

“The organizing committee would like to thank all the fans, media, delegations, and partners for their enthusiasm and reaffirms its commitment to ensuring an optimal experience for everyone,” the press release concludes.

The achievements made by the Moroccan football teams are the crowning of the Vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, underlined Fouzi Lekjaa, president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) during an interview published by French magazine “Figaro.”

“This is all the result and crowning of a Royal sports Vision led for a decade and a half,” Lekjaa said, recalling that “it all started in the National Sport Conference in 2008.”

He added that His Majesty the King “established the foundations, developed a clear roadmap in which the recipe for success to be implemented was explained in detail.”

Lekjaa added that the other turning point is the inauguration of the Mohammed VI Football Academy in Salé. “One of the, if not the single best facility at international football level,” which produced, among others, Nayef Aguerd, Azzedine Ounahi and Youssef En-Nesyri, who were all part of the 2022 World Cup semi finalist squad in Qatar.

In the same vein, he underlined the mindset of Moroccan footballers.

“The common denominator between all the national teams is the mindset. Today, the mindset of all players is to fight for titles and be able to rival those who were considered the football greats throughout history,” he explained.

The FRMF head also expressed his ambition for a senior world championship title following the Atlas Cubs’ triumph in Chile.

“I think we’re going to see a Moroccan, African or Arab team win the senior title very soon. In any case, for us today, there is no reason not to fight for these trophies,” he said, as “football expertise is universal.”

“The Moroccan team is the national team for all Moroccans wherever they may be: those who play at the national level, those who trained at the national level and those who trained and play abroad,” he stressed, underscoring the role of the Mohammed VI Academy, which trains young talents who play in Morocco and abroad every year. 

Morocco has implemented a thorough vision under HM King Mohammed VI’s enlightened leadership, making football a pillar of human, economic, and social development, said the Kingdom’s Ambassador to Spain Karima Benyaich, on Thursday.

The Kingdom has thus succeeded in turning sport in general, and football in particular, into a lever for inclusion, modernization, and international influence, emphasized Benyaich during her participation in the 31st the World Football Summit (WFS Madrid 2025).

Benyaich recalled that Morocco hosted the WFS Rabat in 2025, to present the joint Morocco-Spain-Portugal bid to organize the 2030 FIFA World Cup, noting that this initiative was a historic moment uniting Europe and Africa, the Arab world, and both shores of the Mediterranean.

She also highlighted the major projects undertaken in the Kingdom for more than two decades across all sectors, particularly economic and social, noting that the directives of His Majesty the King have enabled Morocco to develop world-class sports, railway, port, and hotel infrastructure.

The diplomat emphasized the central role of Moroccan youth in this dynamic, praising the performance of the national U-20 team, which has qualified for the final of the U-20 FIFA World Cup currently taking place in Chile. This achievement, she said, “demonstrates the vitality and talent of our youth, true ambassadors of the Kingdom on the global stage.”

Benyaich also lauded the exemplary coordination between the Moroccan, Spanish, and Portuguese football federations, working closely with FIFA to ensure the success of the 2030 World Cup and make it an event “carrying values of unity, diversity, and shared progress.”

The World Football Summit Madrid 2025, held on October 15–16, brought together over 2,500 participants and 130 speakers representing clubs, leagues, federations, institutions, and companies from around the world, focusing on themes of innovation, governance, sustainability, and inclusion in football.