Morocco’s national soccer federation stepped in at the last minute last week to protect innocent young Moroccans from the unbridled humiliation and degradation of playing against Israeli children.
On May 27, Moroccan authorities announced they would pull two teams, made up of 11-year-olds and 13-year-olds, from the Kawkab Athletic Club Marrakech out of the Mondial Pupilles de Plomelin, an exclusive international soccer competition held annually in the city of Plomelin, France. The move was made to protest the participation of Maccabi Haifa, a club with many Arab players.
According to Afriquinfos, a French-language online news portal about African culture and politics, the decision was taken at the highest levels of Moroccan soccer and is motivated by the presence of two Israeli teams in the same group as Morocco. Allan Bossier, President of the competition, condemned the decision, saying it would create “a climate of anti-Semitism” for the competition.
“Hopefully it will not come to spoil the experience for these young people from around the world,” Bossier said.