Think Forward.

Le top de Achraf Hakimi et le flop de Kylian Mbappé... 2765

Il devait être le galactique ultime celui du deuxième quartier du 21ème siècle, le nouvel élu du Bernabeu et de son public exigent et connaisseur. Longtemps considéré être le joyau du football français, tout laissait penser et même croire qu’il allait marquer l’histoire du Real Madrid, peut être mieux que Zidane l'autre français passé par là. Oui mais le football a sa propre logique, hermétique pour les pauvres humais que nous sommes et on vient de s’en apercevoir, impénétrable même pour Florentino Perez président mythique au palmarès fabuleux. A peine arrivé, Kylian Mbappé déçoit. On lui trouvera mille et une excuses à ses débuts. Il est de plus en plus compliqué de lui en dénicher. Son adaptation est laborieuse, son jeu est stérile. Il semble perdu sur le terrain. Ses coéquipiers n’arrivent pas à jouer avec lui. Eux qui pourtant une saison auparavant marchaient quasiment sur leurs adversaires, trouvent maintenant de la difficulté à se retrouver sur l’aire de jeu inchangée, d’un coup devenue étrangère. L’efficacité de l'effectif avec le seule Mbappé en plus, n’est plus la même. Le vestiaire madrilène semble s’interroger en catimini et de plus en plus sérieusement et ouvertement. Vient alors la claque, la double claque d’Arsenal. L’équipe est amorphe, le rythme est perdu, les buts rentrent de partout, l’efficacité légendaire du Réal est devenue une chimère. A-t-on misé sur le bon homme ? Annoncé depuis des années, le feuilleton Mbappé est enfin conclu en fanfare en 2024. Les supporters attendaient un nouveau Cristiano Ronaldo, ils découvrent un joueur en manque d’inspiration, ne s’intégrant pas au schéma collectif, incapable de faire la différence, faisant déjouer ses camarades. Il inscrira quelques buts, mais sans éclat ni leadership. Le poids du maillot merengue semble trop lourd à porter pour le naguère prodige de Bondy. C’est le désamour et la désolation. Les madrilènes sont mis à genou en Champions-League. Et ça passe mal. On parle alors de caprice du président qui avait fait une fixation sur le joueur jusqu’à l’obtenir mais pour quel rendement s’interroge-t-on. Perez et son joueur son sur la sellette. Ce sera encore plus grave si le Real n’obtient rien cette saison. Le risque en est grand. Même Ancelotti ne semble pas croire en son équipe. A la fin du match contre Arsenal, sa mimique et ses traits l’on trahit. Il veut partir et probablement plus vite qu’on ne le pense. La crise du Real et là et bien là et comme toujours dans pareil cas c’est l’entraineur qui saute en premier. Maillon faible de la chaine. Mbappé au Real est quelconque. Il a tendance à décrocher, son manque d’automatismes et son langage corporel en disent long sur ce qu’il est devenu : moins tranchant, moins impliqué, presque en retrait. Vinícius et Bellingham, tirés vers le bas sont éclaboussés. Ils sont devenus anodins, les autres coéquipiers quelconque. Les échanges violents et la bagarre à peine évitée dans le couloir menant aux vestiaires entre Mbappé et Vinicius en dit long sur l'ambiance et les frustrations. Mbappé a-t-il été le porte poisse de cette équipe ? Pendant ce temps à Paris, son copain Hakimi, de son prénom Achraf, celui que le Real a laissé partir, est devenu le véritable patron du PSG. Et le PSG sans Mbappé est mieux et passe en demi-finale pourtant contre une équipe anglaise également. Ironie du sort. C’est à Paris que le contre-exemple brille donc de mille feux. Achraf Hakimi, souvent relégué au second plan médiatique durant les années Mbappé au PSG, s’est imposé cette saison comme le véritable leader du club parisien. Défensivement solide, offensivement décisif, le latéral marocain enchaîne les prestations de haut niveau. Buteur, passeur, organisateur depuis son couloir droit, Hakimi porte un Paris Saint-Germain en reconstruction, et Achraf lui distille amour, affection, solidarité, abnégation et efficacité. Ses statistiques parlent pour lui : un nombre record d’interceptions, des buts cruciaux en Champions League. Sa régularité force le respect. Le brassard de capitaine est mérité. Plus encore, c’est son impact mental et tactique qui frappe : Hakimi n’est plus seulement un latéral moderne, il est devenu le pilier du projet parisien. Est-ce la revanche d’un homme sans doute sous-estimé quand il se trouvait dans le même couloir que Mbappé. Débarqué au PSG avec la réputation d’un "produit de l’école Real Madrid" après une escapade en Allemagne, Hakimi semble aujourd’hui rappeler à la Maison Blanche l’erreur stratégique de l’avoir laissé partir. Le club madrilène a voulu l’éclat médiatique de Mbappé, mais il lui manque la solidité, la loyauté de Achraf Hakimi peut être. L’ironie du football moderne tient parfois en un nom mal prononcé au bon moment. Alors que Kylian Mbappé avait été érigé en sauveur du Real Madrid après des années de suspense, c’est finalement Achraf Hakimi, resté à Paris, qui s’impose aujourd’hui comme l’un des hommes forts du football européen. Deux trajectoires opposées, deux lectures d’un même été 2024, et peut-être une erreur d’analyse qu’il est difficile de corriger. Mbappé a choisi le prestige de Madrid. Sans doute pensait-il pouvoir soulever le trophée européen plus facilement avec le club qui l’a le plus remporté dans l’histoire. Il était sans doute lacé des nombreuses tentatives avortées du PSG. Hakimi lui, a choisi la continuité, la stabilité et un projet de jeu qui l’intègre pleinement. Aujourd’hui, les chiffres et les performances tendent à donner raison au Marocain. Son influence dépasse le terrain : il est devenu un leader technique et mental, respecté par le vestiaire et écouté par son entraîneur, adulé par les supporters. Et si c’était Hakimi qui soulevait le trophée en 2025 et avec le PSG abandonné avec mépris par Mbappé ? Pour cela Hakimi se doit d’être percutant devant un autre club anglais celui-là même qui humilié, Mbappé, Ancelotti, Prez et les madrilènes avec. Si à Paris on jubile, à Madrid, en revanche, le doute commence à s’installer. A-t-on payé trop cher pour un joueur dont le jeu ne repose que sur sa fulgurance individuelle ? Et surtout, comment faire cohabiter plusieurs stars du même calibre sans entamer la cohésion d’un groupe naguère homogène et solide? Il serait pourtant prématuré d'enterrer Mbappé et son aventure espagnole, son talent brut reste incontestable, même si ce début d'expérience madrilène soulève une question importante : et si l’avenir du football ne se jouait plus sur les paillettes, mais sur l’intelligence de jeu, la polyvalence et la discipline collective ? Si tel était le cas, Achraf Hakimi en est déjà l’un des symboles les plus aboutis.
Aziz Daouda Aziz Daouda

Aziz Daouda

Directeur Technique et du Développement de la Confédération Africaine d'Athlétisme. Passionné du Maroc, passionné d'Afrique. Concerné par ce qui se passe, formulant mon point de vue quand j'en ai un. Humaniste, j'essaye de l'être, humain je veux l'être. Mon histoire est intimement liée à l'athlétisme marocain et mondial. J'ai eu le privilège de participer à la gloire de mon pays .


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Europe Has Finally Chosen Rabat for the Future... 361

The European Union (EU) adopted a common position at the end of January 2026 on the Moroccan Sahara issue, explicitly supporting the Moroccan autonomy plan under its sovereignty over these provinces. The Union formally recognizes that the Moroccan solution is realistic and definitive to the artificial Sahara dispute, formerly occupied by Spain at the expense of the Sharifian Empire. This was no surprise given the already established positions of major European powers. However, this unanimous consensus of the 27 member states marks a major diplomatic breakthrough for the Sharifian Kingdom, driven by international momentum and crowned by UN Security Council Resolution 2797 in October 2025, which explicitly calls for negotiations exclusively on the basis of the autonomy plan put forward by Morocco. This position, aligned with those of many European countries expressed separately such as France, Spain, and Germany, strengthens the international legitimacy of the Moroccan plan. It opens prospects for reinforced strategic partnerships with the Union, particularly in economic matters through increased trade agreements, and in security, amid managing migratory flows and combating terrorism threats in the Sahel region. For Rabat, this recognition consolidates the effective integration of the Sahara into the Kingdom, de facto achieved since 1976. It will inexorably accelerate investments in the country's southern provinces, fostering unprecedented inclusive development in the region: road infrastructure, the Dakhla Atlantique port, renewable energy with over 1,000 MW, and modern universities. Confident in its historical and geographical rights, backed by unassailable national unity, Morocco has not waited for this support to act. For nearly 20 years, a rigorous development strategy, including the New Development Model (NDM), has transformed the regions in question, rendering any solution other than Moroccan sovereignty obsolete. Day by day, the Kingdom's arguments have gained echo and credibility, its proposal proving just and logical. Europe, just 14 km from Morocco's northern coasts, gains diplomatic coherence and benefits from North African stability embodied by the Sharifian Kingdom. The new resolution thus facilitates major trade agreements, such as the EU-Morocco fishing agreement extended in 2024 despite ludicrous challenges. Morocco, moreover, serves as the reliable pivot that stopped over 45,000 irregular crossings in 2024, according to Frontex, unlike other countries in the region. These are extremely costly operations for the Kingdom. European gains and regional momentum are therefore consolidated here. Beyond that, the new resolution spurs inclusive North African economic integration, provided Algeria returns to the long-hoped-for pragmatism and aligns with the course of history. Nothing is less certain for the moment. The context is that Morocco is emerging as a high-performing regional hub. It is now connected to West Africa and the Sahel via its highway network and the Tiznit-Dakhla expressway, the port of Tanger Med (Africa's number one), and the deep-water port of Dakhla, nearing final completion. Its trade with the region is growing, particularly with exponentially rising exports to sub-Saharan Africa. Arab unanimity in favor of the Moroccanness of the southern provinces and the African alignment that is tending to generalize, except for a few ideological exceptions or those under the influence of millions of dollars, accelerate this continental dynamic. In contrast, Algeria is increasingly isolating itself, mocked by a global consensus rejecting its far-fetched theses. Heir to a bygone military-political regime, Algiers feeds on low-intensity conflicts to legitimize the omnipotence of an army contested by an oppressed people, stifled by repression, as evidenced by the Hirak protests crushed since 2019. Any hint of change is nipped in the bud. The art of exporting crises has reached its peak there and is now running out of steam. Sahel countries: Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, are increasingly openly criticizing Algeria's actions, seen as destabilizing through support for the Polisario, among other things. It is proven that the latter maintains more than relations with terrorist organizations plundering the region. It is in this environment that the intensification of U.S. pressure for direct Morocco-Algeria dialogue fits, a dialogue always advocated without complex by Rabat. Algiers seems to struggle to digest this European debacle, compounded by the UN resolution and the fact that Morocco was invited by President Trump to join the new Peace Council as a founding member. Algerian media, usually loquacious and venomous, maintain a deafening silence or at most a statement attributed to a Sahrawi organization of dubious existence, calling on Europe to comply with a European Court decision, for lack of room to maneuver. Growing Russo-Chinese neutrality, the retreat of Iran, whose Revolutionary Guards and proxies are now classified as terrorist organizations by the United States and this same Europe, drastically weaken Algerian theses and reduce its margins for maneuver. The Polisario, the Saharan proxy artificially maintained by Algiers and covertly supported by Iran, risks eventual moral and logistical collapse. Its representatives, who recently went to the USA thinking they were negotiators, were relegated to the rank of "thugs" after undergoing a tough interrogation, particularly on their ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Algiers' berets, losing influence and facing internal tensions, consequently have nothing left to hope for without aligning with the international community. Supplying gas and oil is no longer enough to weigh in or impose oneself. Price fluctuations, the broad diversification of suppliers, and embargoes envisioned against recalcitrants turn it into a vulnerability rather than an asset. Algiers will have to understand this, and quickly. The European position on the Moroccan Sahara is the final nail in the coffin of the Algerian Trojan horse, for those who can read the geopolitical fault lines.

AFCON 2025: When Realpolitik and Institutional Influence Overpower the Rule of Law 655

The ruling issued by CAF on January 29, 2026, regarding the tumultuous conclusion of the Morocco-Senegal final, transcends mere sporting arbitration. It signals the emergence of a structural denial of justice where Realpolitik has effectively superseded codified norms. By delivering this verdict of convenience, CAF has squandered a pivotal historical opportunity. Legal recourse through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) now stands as the sole remaining avenue to restore the primacy of law over political maneuvering. This step is essential to transform a denial of justice into a redemptive legislative precedent, capable of dismantling the impunity of those who believe they can subvert the system through "pitch-side sedition." Tactical Obstruction and the Legal Grey Zone Contrary to the radical interpretations circulated in the heat of the moment, the Senegalese squad never executed an irreversible physical withdrawal from the field. By remaining within the technical perimeter, the actors de facto neutralized the application of Article 82 of the CAF regulations. However, this technical distinction does not diminish the gravity of the events. We witnessed a strategic "hostage-taking" of the match. By instrumentalizing the pitch's grey zones, Senegal exerted overwhelming psychological and administrative pressure on the officiating crew, paralyzing the natural flow of the game. This "perimeter sedition" constitutes a major breach of sporting ethics: a manifestation of "might makes right" rather than the rule of law. By validating this conduct, CAF has effectively sanctioned the threat of withdrawal as a legitimate negotiating lever during a match. The Urgency of a Sui Generis Disciplinary Framework The current continental sporting law is trapped in an obsolete binarism: a match is either played or abandoned. In the face of such systemic obstruction, the existing legal regime resembles a "tree bearing bitter fruit." It is now imperative to establish a specific offense of obstruction. The law cannot remain silent when a team saturates the technical space to freeze the clock and coerce a favorable outcome. Future reforms must focus on intentionality: any refusal to resume play, even if the team remains on the sidelines, should result in an automatic forfeit. Without this "scientization" of sanctions, African football is condemned to permanent legal insecurity. Institutional "Entrisme" and the Shadow of Hard Power Analysis reveals a glaring asymmetry of power. While Morocco has invested in contributory "Soft Power," Senegal appears to have secured judicial "Hard Power." It is now evident that the Senegalese Federation is deeply embedded within the inner sanctums of CAF. The presence of a national figure at the helm of the Disciplinary Committee—notwithstanding any formal recusal—creates an insurmountable structural bias. This "Solomonic justice"—sacrificing a fuse (the coach) to protect the institution (the trophy)—is a calculated maneuver of Realpolitik designed to appease a federation whose institutional influence now dictates the tempo of verdicts at the expense of equity. The Referee’s Report: A Veil for Incompetence The Disciplinary Committee has retreated into willful blindness by relying exclusively on the reports of referees and officials, disregarding material, chronometric, and video evidence. The "Judge and Party" Conflict: The referee, whose loss of authority was the primary catalyst for the chaos, cannot be considered a legitimate or objective narrator of the facts. Administrative Distortion: By relying on these often laconic or biased minutes, the Commission deliberately prioritized administrative finality over the reality of the pitch. This creates a vicious cycle where officials are shielded to avoid applying the full rigor of the law against the champion. Conclusion: From Influence to Modernity For months, a complacent media narrative attempted to portray Fouzi Lekjaa as the "demiurge" of CAF. However, this verdict demonstrates that real power lies elsewhere. By prioritizing political stability over legal rigor, CAF has undermined its own credibility. Morocco, guided by the strategic vision of His Majesty the King, must now act as the champion of institutional modernity. A referral to the CAS is not merely a protest; it is a necessity to break the cycle of impunity and ensure that no entity can hijack the system through political leverage.

Africa of Narratives: The Media Silence That Handicaps Rabat... 732

The press is never neutral and never will be.It doesn't just report facts: it ranks them, amplifies them, or stifles them. In Africa, where the battle for influence plays out as much in newsrooms as in chancelleries, media power is a central indicator of real leadership. In this game, the comparison between Morocco and Senegal, judged by the facts recorded during the CAN final, is brutal. It's a textbook case. It highlights a disturbing truth: Morocco acts massively across the continent but speaks little or goes unheard, while Senegal, with more limited means, imposes its voice. Senegal boasts an age-old media capital, forged by history, a culture of debate, and a press that has never fully abandoned its critical role. Dakar remains a nerve center for francophone African discourse. Its media transform a national event into a continental issue, a local controversy into a pan-African debate. They master the art of storytelling: giving meaning, creating emotion, shaping opinion. A quick look at *Le Soleil*, the historic state newspaper and circulation leader, or *Walfadjri*, a powerful, conservative, and critical group, is enough to gauge its reach. **Morocco presents a striking paradox. The country invests, finances, builds, trains, and advances by giant strides. It promotes win-win partnerships, positions itself as a major player in African development, and claims a deep continental strategic footprint. Yet this ambition runs up against a glaring weakness: the absence of a Moroccan press that is audible and influential on the African scale. Moroccan media abound, sometimes technically proficient, but remain confined to internal dialogue. Africa often appears there as diplomatic scenery, rarely as a living space for debate.** This shortfall carries a heavy political cost. Without powerful relays, the Moroccan narrative, when it exists—struggles to take hold. Its successes go unnoticed, its positions are poorly understood, its silences interpreted as admissions of weakness or lack of humility. While others seize the space, Morocco lets the battle for perceptions slip away. In Africa, those who don't tell their own story accept others telling it for them, with their biases and lies when bad faith enters the mix. The Sahara affair demonstrated this for decades, with persistent residues: the neighbor's narrative took root in many minds, peddling falsehoods, historical distortions, even geographical falsehoods. This absence of voice is also reflected in the silence of the elites. Moroccan ministers are discreet, if not absent, from African airwaves. Ambassadors shy away from major continental debates. Moroccan experts are invisible in pan-African media: Morocco is present physically and materially, but absent narratively. In contrast, Senegalese figures, political, diplomatic, or intellectual, flood the regional media space. They explain, justify, challenge, fully aware that influence is built through public discourse. Football, too often reduced to mere spectacle by shortsighted decision-makers, brutally exposes these imbalances. A heavy defeat can remain a minor incident or become a political and symbolic event. When a sports fact circulates in Africa, it's not the score that strikes but how it's told, commented on, debated. Things may go well on the pitch; what matters is the media narrative. The sanctions from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) confirm this reality. Their impact goes beyond sport: they become subjects of debate, tools of pressure, levers of influence. Where some media amplify, contextualize, and politicize the event, others suffer it, whine without convincing. Morocco too often adopts this defensive posture, lacking a press capable of imposing its reading of the facts and a solid narrative. Today, the impression prevails that the continent has ganged up against the Kingdom, seen as a corrupter of the system and absolute master of the CAF. In reality, we are far, very far from that. Yet try convincing a young African otherwise: some even view the sanctions against Senegal as unfair. *The problem is not quantitative but strategic. Morocco doesn't lack media; it lacks an African vision. Few correspondents on the continent, weak multilingual presence, absence of pan-African platforms: so many handicaps in a hyper-connected Africa. Add to that an editorial caution that stifles debate, while influence arises from clashing ideas.* The diagnosis is irrefutable. Morocco cannot sustainably claim a central role in Africa without investing the media field. It needs offensive, credible media capable of speaking to* Africa and with*Africa;* visible, assertive voices present in controversies and substantive debates. Modern power is no longer measured solely in kilometers of highways, banks, or signed agreements, but in the ability to impose a narrative. **Morocco must never forget the all-out war waged against it, including in the media. It must integrate this as a core component of its African policy.** As long as it leaves this terrain to others, those who, jealous and insecure, bet on disinformation, slander, and lies, its ambitions will remain fragile at best. **Good faith never wins alone: it advances alongside bad faith.** It's the swiftest, most composed, most persuasive, the one that hits back, that triumphs in the end.