Achraf Hakimi is not the 2024 African footballer... CAF disowned? 13511
We are the day after the African Football Awards ceremony. A ceremony celebrated with brio and above all experienced with a fast sublimated to the maximum in Marrakech... A ceremony that only Morocco, in its millenary way, is capable of delivering at a level bordering on perfection.
It was a beautiful evening, in which the brilliance of Jalal Bouzrara at the height of his powers, and his slightly outdated but well-endowed team-mate, gave a good rhythm that was only occasionally disturbed by the turbulence of a President with his jacket unbuttoned, his stomach hanging out and his attire far from respectful of the occasion.
Infantino himself was ill at ease, suffering at will from the galloping hands of a president who plays at being more African than Africans. His gaze and sometimes his grimaces betrayed his phlegm, letting the CAF President know that this was not the way to act at a ceremony that was being watched throughout the world, at least the African world.
The room was packed and many of the guests were mechanically applauding the trophies awarded here and there to the best this or the best that. The impression on the other side of the screen was that of one of those television programs where a chauffeur de salle, an ‘ambianceur’, orders the well-sorted audience to applaud and to stop according to the timing chosen by the director. This is not to say that the winning individuals or teams were not entitled to receive the trophies that were awarded to them, but the way in which they were announced by stars or lesser stars was not always successful.
Each time, there was an attempt to create suspense and surprise when there was no need for it. The evidence was there. Which team could we have chosen if not Côte d'Ivoire, who have delivered one of the most exciting African Cup ever? What other female coach could have won the award if not the courageous Lamia Boumehdi. There is nothing worse in such a context, for the sake of spectacle, than to overplay the surprise in the face of the obvious.
Under such circumstances, at some point, boredom sets in and the audience becomes bored. The President of the CAF sensed this and once on stage, once again, he make thinly disguised excuses: I know we are late... He pretended to want to move quickly but ended up delaying things even more, much to the dismay of our friend Jalal Bouzrara who saw his driver being badly led.
In fact, and this is perfectly understandable, everyone in the room, as well as all of us behind our screens, were waiting for just one moment: the announcement of the best African player of the year. It is the one and only trophy that is remembered years later and that marks such ceremonies and adds value to them. If it were to be announced at the start of the festivities, it is almost certain that the halls would empty very quickly afterwards.
Marrakech was no exception. The suspense was maintained by musical choices that were no doubt debatable, if not by those who recommended them. To each his own.
In an instant, the hall was transformed into a mosque and a silent cathedral. To each his own, but football brings everyone together around six liters of air. The moment they had been waiting for had arrived this time.
Again, on behalf of the two football bosses present, the one from the world and the one from Africa, the name of the African Golden Ball for 2024 was announced, not without some formality.
For a moment, there was a heavy silence before a few voices chanted Hakimi's name, and the number of voices grew. It was a cold shower for the Moroccan clan, but not the only one. CAF found itself disowned. The choice was not the right one. Not that the player chosen is undeserving, but Hakimi is undoubtedly more deserving for more than one reason, all of them objective.
Questions then de facto arose. How is it that the Golden Ball did not go to a Moroccan following the Qatar World Cup in 2022. How is it that the 2023 trophy did not go to Bounou and, of course, how is it that the golden ball did not go to one of the Moroccan players who won bronze at the Olympic Games, in this case Hakimi, the imposing and effective leader of this team?
This is where hypotheses and questions can be put forward. Do the voters have something against the Moroccan players? Do they not see them as sufficiently African, even though they are just as African as the others? Perhaps, and above all, some people, no doubt a minority but influencing the vote, are confusing the issue with what is happening here and there, to which some sub-Saharan Africans are victims. Doesn't the laborious, hollow and unfounded concept of the Maghreb encourage people to lump together all the inhabitants of North Africa, knowing that the leaders of certain North African countries have gone astray with unacceptable remarks about sub-Saharans and that others have acted in a rather inhumane manner towards poor people, forced against their will to migrate from south of the Sahara to the north in search of a better life. Words spoken elsewhere, abuses committed elsewhere, thousands of kilometers from the Kingdom of Morocco.
These are only hypotheses that some will find inappropriate or unfounded, but they can be discussed and disproved if they are not verified.
It is at this point that we should perhaps be quick to point out that Morocco is the North African country with the highest number of migrants, more than 148,000 in 2024, with an annual increase of 5.6%, a spectacular leap of 71.86% in just ten years. The Kingdom is a destination and transit country. It has put in place a genuine policy to support and integrate these migrant populations. The country is fully committed to the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. It is for this reason that large numbers of migrants, particularly from sub-Saharan Africa, are regularly regularized and enjoy the same rights as Moroccan citizens.
That's all there is to it, just in case...
In any case, this morning the Moroccans are rightly not happy and understand even better the anger of Venicius and Real Madrid.
Hakimi richly deserved to win the 2024 African Golden Ball.
