Think Forward.

CAN : l’urgence d’un code éthique pour restaurer l’esprit du football africain 880

Aziz Daouda, 2 mon.
- Politics - Society - Sports -
3.1 min read.
La très récente Coupe d’Afrique des Nations au Maroc, pourtant voulue comme une célébration du football africain dans toute sa diversité et sa ferveur, a laissé un goût amer, une grosse amertume, une déception incommensurable, une douleur immense et des blessés. Quel dommage que de récompenser ainsi un pays qui a tout donné pour que soit célébré l'Afrique. Quelle honte que de haranguer les foules jusqu'à leur faire commettre des agressions physiques et de peut être laisser orpheline une famille. Au-delà des performances sportives, plusieurs comportements observés tout au long de la compétition ont suscité l’incompréhension, l’indignation et parfois la honte. Des débordements verbaux, des attitudes provocatrices, des mises en cause répétées de l’arbitrage et des déclarations irresponsables de personnes sensées incarner les valeurs mêmes du sport ont terni l’image de la CAN. En conférence de presse, pourtant organisée par la CAF à la gloire du sport et en dehors, certains ont commis des propos invraisemblables, fruits de leurs imaginations débordantes et de petits calculs imbéciles. Le paroxysme de ces dérives a été atteint lors de la finale, avec le comportement indigne d'un entraîneur, aujourd'hui largement relayé et commentés par les médias et les réseaux sociaux. Quelles que soient les tensions inhérentes à un match de ce niveau, rien ne saurait justifier des attitudes contraires aux valeurs du sport, de respect et de fair-play. Ce n’est pas seulement une question d’émotion ou de rivalité, mais une question de responsabilité vis à vis d'une jeunesse et d'un continent en devenir. La CAN au Maroc n’a pas été une compétition comme les autres. Elle fut une vitrine du football africain, observée par le monde entier, suivie par des millions de jeunes qui y cherchent des modèles. Les entraîneurs, joueurs, dirigeants et officiels ne sont pas de simples acteurs : ils sont des référents, des symboles et des ambassadeurs. Face à cette réalité dommageable, il devient impératif que la Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) franchisse un cap. Les sanctions ponctuelles, souvent perçues comme tardives ou incohérentes, ne suffisent plus. Il est temps d’instaurer un code éthique contraignant, clair et universel, que tout participant à la CAN serait tenu de signer avant le début de la compétition, dès les phases éliminatoires. Un engagement moral et juridique, condition sine qua non de participation. Un tel code n’aurait pas pour vocation de brider la passion ou la liberté d’expression, mais de fixer des limites claires entre la compétition et la dérive, entre la contestation légitime et l’irresponsabilité publique. Le dit Code Éthique de la CAN reposerait sur huit piliers clairs, précis et contraignants. **1. Les principes fondamentaux du code seraient:** * Le respect des valeurs du football : fair-play, intégrité, dignité et respect mutuel * Le respect de l’image et de la réputation du football africain * La responsabilité individuelle et collective de tout participant **2. Le comportement sur le terrain et en zone technique serait bien encadré:** * L'interdiction de tout comportement agressif, provocateur ou insultant * Le respect absolu des arbitres et officiels, quelles que soient les décisions * L'interdiction de gestes, propos ou attitudes incitant à la violence ou à la haine **3. Le comportement hors du terrain fait partie du tout:** * Le respect des adversaires, supporters, médias et institutions * L'interdiction de toute forme de discrimination: raciale, nationale, religieuse ou autres. * Le comportement doit être exemplaire dans les lieux publics, hôtels, stades et zones mixtes **4. La communication et déclarations publiques doivent respecter les règles avant tout:** * l'obligation de retenue et de responsabilité dans les déclarations médiatiques * L'interdiction de mettre en cause l’intégrité de l’arbitrage sans preuves établies sino devant les instances et non par toute autres voix. * L'interdiction d’incitation à la violence ou à la contestation hostile par le geste ou le verbe **5. La responsabilité des entraîneurs et dirigeants est fondamentales:** * L'obligation d’exemplarité renforcée en raison de leur rôle d’autorité * La responsabilité directe du comportement du staff technique * L'engagement à calmer les tensions et non à les attiser **6. Les réseaux sociaux et communication numérique fait partie du jeu et de la compétition:** * L'application du code éthique aux publications sur les réseaux sociaux * La responsabilité personnelle des messages publiés ou relayés * L'interdiction de propos diffamatoires, haineux ou provocateurs **7. Les sanctions doivent être exemplaires et sans complaisance:** * Des sanctions progressives et clairement définies : avertissement, amende, suspension, exclusion définitive * L'application immédiate et transparente des sanctions * La possibilité de sanctions aggravées en cas de récidive ou de faits graves **8. L'engagement formel est un préalable à la participation à toute compétition:** * La signature obligatoire du code par tous les joueurs, entraîneurs, dirigeants et officiels dans un document individuel accompagnant les listes de joueurs et officiels engagés dans une compétition africaines. * La signature du code est une condition préalable à toute accréditation pour la CAN * La reconnaissance écrite des sanctions en cas de violation est obligatoire Le but du code est bien évidemment d'instaurer l’exemplarité pour protéger l’avenir du football africain et ses compétitions. L'introduction d'un code éthique dans les procédures de participation aux CAN, n’est pas un aveu de faiblesse, mais un signe de maturité. Le football africain a atteint un niveau de visibilité et de compétitivité grâce à cette CAN au Maroc. Le niveau ainsi atteint impose des standards élevés et des garanties. On ne peut tolérer que par la faute d'un individu surchauffé tout un édifice s'écroule et que des vies soient menacées, voire perdues. La passion ne peut plus servir d’alibi à l’excès, la victoire ne justifiera jamais la perte de valeurs, la ferveur ne peut disculper un comportement excessif. La CAN doit rester une fête, pas un théâtre de dérives. En posant un cadre éthique clair, la CAF enverrait un message fort : le football africain se doit d'avancer, de se structurer et de se respecter. Le football doit rassembler et non provoquer la haine, l'hostilité, la répugnance, les crises entre nations ou encore servir de terreau à des froids diplomatiques...Pour ne pas dire plus.
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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Paradoxical Ramadan: Piety, Irritability, Overconsumption and Slumping Productivity... 818

Aziz Daouda, 3 d.
Every year, Ramadan settles in Morocco as a form of collective breathing space. Daily rhythms change or are inverted, habits are reorganized or fall apart, nights come alive and days slow down. A sacred month par excellence, it is first and foremost a time of fasting, contemplation, piety and solidarity. But it is also, increasingly, a national paradox: intense spiritual fervor coexists with heightened social irritability, massive food waste and a noticeable drop in productivity. Ramadan, as it is prescribed and recommended, is a time of inner discipline. Fasting is not just abstaining from food; it is self‑control, restraint, patience. Religious scholars and schoolteachers insist on the moral dimension of fasting: refraining from anger, insults and injustice. In short, putting aside all forms of deceitfulness. Yet in contemporary Moroccan reality, the holy month sometimes seems to produce the opposite effect. It becomes the month of unjustified social tension. In large cities such as Casablanca, Rabat or Marrakech, if the mornings are relatively calm, late afternoon turns into a critical moment. Traffic is saturated, impatience is palpable, and road altercations become more frequent. Emergency services and police stations traditionally observe an increase in minor conflicts and aggressive behavior at the end of the day. There is also a rise in cases handled by gastro‑enterology and other specialties… People eat too much, and poorly. Fasting, combined with lack of sleep due to long evenings after iftar and waking up for suhoor, among other things, affects physiological balance. Irritability, reduced concentration and chronic fatigue become commonplace. In a country where emotional regulation is already under strain in everyday life, Ramadan acts as an amplifier. This nervousness is by no means a religious inevitability; it is a sociological consequence of how the month is organized, in a way that has gradually drifted away from its original spirit of moderation, self‑mastery and day‑and‑night contemplation. The immediate consequence is a slump in productivity. On the economic front, the impact is tangible. Administrative working hours are reduced, offices empty out in the afternoon without valid reasons, and construction sites run in slow motion. In some sectors, the drop in activity is accepted; in others, it causes structural delays. Ramadan excuses and explains everything. People shift the burden of their disengagement onto the community without the slightest embarrassment. Morocco aspires to accelerate its growth, attract investment and improve its competitiveness. Yet for nearly one month every year, the economy runs in degraded mode. The private sector adapts, but at what cost? The drop in productivity is not only quantitative; it is also qualitative: decisions are postponed, meetings cut short, projects delayed. The public administration and its staff amplify all this. It would be caricatural to place the blame on religion. The problem is not Ramadan; it is the absence of a culture of performance that is compatible with spiritual requirements. Output and accountability ought to be part of the values of the holy month. Another major contradiction is the paradox of food waste. While fasting is supposed to remind us of the hunger of the poorest, iftar tables are overloaded. Multiple soups, an abundance of pastries, redundant dishes. Markets are booming, food spending rises sharply, and a significant part of what is bought ends up in the trash. Wallets empty out and suffer. This phenomenon reveals a cultural transformation that may be surprising: Ramadan has partly become a social and consumerist event. Large retailers post their best figures, advertising intensifies, and TV channels compete with special programming to capture a deliberately captive nocturnal audience. At the start of the month, national channels record more than 70% of total viewership, a share they are far from reaching under normal circumstances, as Moroccans are very fond of foreign channels. The month of frugality paradoxically turns into a month of overconsumption. One can then ask: is this authentic spirituality, or a social ritualization? It would be unfair to reduce Moroccan Ramadan to its excesses. Thousands of solidarity initiatives emerge. Associations, mosques and volunteers distribute meals and aid to the most vulnerable. Families come together, intergenerational ties are strengthened. The mosque regains a vibrant centrality. The issue, therefore, is not to criticize Ramadan, but to question its contemporary practice. Are we faithful to its spirit, or prisoners of cultural habits that distort its meaning? If the holy month becomes synonymous with chronic fatigue, road rage, weakened productivity and waste, then there is a gap between the spiritual principle and its social translation. It is certainly time to advocate for a Ramadan of responsibility. A calm national debate is needed: how can we reconcile spiritual requirements with collective performance? How can we preserve the sacredness of the month while maintaining the efficiency of institutions? How can we turn fasting into a lever for self‑discipline rather than a pretext for slackness? Ramadan could be a laboratory for positive transformation: learning self‑control, optimizing time, rationalizing consumption, structuring solidarity. It could become a month of moral and professional excellence. Morocco, a country of deep religious tradition and clear economic ambition, has every interest in taking up this challenge. Because beyond productivity statistics or scenes of urban irritation, the real question is this: are we turning Ramadan into a simple collective ritual, or into a genuine exercise in inner and social reform? The answer, each year, is played out in the streets, offices and homes, and above all in each person’s conscience. We have a little less than two weeks left to think about it… seriously.

Thelema 1548

Tupan, 5 d.
Thelema is a spiritual philosophy and religious system established by Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) in the early twentieth century. The system is based on the teachings found in The Book of the Law, which Crowley believed was revealed to him by a spiritual entity named Aiwass in Cairo in 1904. The name Thelema comes from a Greek word meaning “will.” At the heart of the philosophy is the concept of True Will, which Crowley described as the unique purpose or direction of each individual’s life. The central teaching of the tradition is expressed in the phrase: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.” In Thelemic philosophy this statement does not mean simple freedom to do anything one desires. Instead, it refers to discovering and fulfilling one’s True Will, which represents the natural path of a person within the larger order of the universe. According to Crowley, suffering and conflict often arise when people live in ways that are not aligned with their true nature. Another key phrase in Thelema is: “Love is the law, love under will.” This statement suggests that love and harmony should guide human actions, but that these expressions of love must be consistent with one’s deeper purpose. Crowley believed that human spiritual history unfolds through different Aeons, or epochs of consciousness. He proposed that humanity had recently entered the Aeon of Horus, a new era in which individuals would move beyond the authoritarian religious structures of the past and instead seek spiritual knowledge through personal discovery and self-realization. Thelema integrates ideas from many sources, including Hermetic philosophy, the Kabbalah, ceremonial magick, astrology, alchemy, and Eastern spiritual practices such as yoga and meditation. These traditions are used as practical systems of spiritual training designed to transform consciousness rather than merely a belief system. Practitioners of Thelema often use rituals, meditation, symbolic study, and magickal exercises to better understand themselves and align with their True Will. Crowley also established magickal orders to help organize and transmit these teachings, including the A∴A∴ and his later leadership within Ordo Templi Orientis. Today Thelema continues to influence modern ceremonial magick, occult philosophy, and spiritual movements that emphasize self-discovery, personal freedom, and conscious evolution. While interpretations vary among practitioners, the core idea remains the same: each individual has a unique role in the universe, and spiritual growth comes from discovering and fulfilling that role with clarity, discipline, and awareness.

Iran Facing the Reality Test: The End of a Regional Myth? 1747

Aziz Daouda, 7 d.
Another major sequence of tensions in the Middle East highlights the deep fragilities of the Iranian regime. Since its advent in 1979, the Islamic Republic has built itself on a political narrative of revolutionary power in direct opposition to the "Great Satan" the USA, unwavering defender of the Palestinian cause and Jerusalem's liberation. **This ideological positioning allowed Tehran to gain relays in parts of the Arab world, particularly among movements hostile to Israel. It developed an influence strategy based on creating, funding, and arming affiliated groups: Hezbollah in Lebanon, Shiite militias in Iraq, support for the Syrian regime, Houthis in Yemen, forming what it presents as the "axis of resistance." It surely finances other movements in many other countries, with an unnatural connivance with Sunni Islamists. An expansion strategy with destabilizing effects.** Where Iran has extended its influence, its footprint is inseparable from increased militarization and state fragmentation. The projection relies less on state-building than on the rise of parallel politico-military networks challenging national institutions. This has certainly enabled Tehran to hold leverage over its adversaries and position itself as the champion of "resistance" to the US-dominated regional order and its allies. But it has also prolonged conflicts, weakened already fragile state institutions, and exacerbated sectarian fractures. In the long term, the human and economic cost of this "strategy" is considerable for the affected countries and for Iran itself, subjected to severe sanctions and persistent international isolation. *The Palestinian cause is in fact more instrumentalized than defended, for nearly half a century, while the Iranian regime claims it as a central pillar of its diplomacy and revolutionary legitimacy.* Tehran has forged ties with armed Palestinian actors like Hamas or Islamic Jihad, presenting them as extensions of its own "resistance." Yet it must be acknowledged that Palestinians' situation has in no way improved: rampant occupation, colonization, and blockade continue, while cycles of violence recur without credible political prospects. Palestine has lost vast territory, lives, and even sympathy within the Arab world itself. Palestinian internal divisions, locking the cause into an essentially militarized logic absent diplomatic horizons, question the real effectiveness of this posture. Like the Gamal Abdel Nasser era marked by imprudent pan-Arabism, the current period has brought no progress. Iran has, in part, supplanted certain Arab leadership on the dossier without producing tangible results for a lasting settlement—nor concrete improvements in Palestinians' lives, quite the contrary. **Beyond geopolitics, the regime faces profound internal contestation. Recent protest movements, and those triggered after Jina Mahsa Amini's death in September 2022, revealed a major fracture between part of Iranian society and its leaders. Repression, as the sole response, resulted in thousands of deaths and arrests, documented by international organizations and UN mechanisms.** The rigidity of security and ideology contrasts with the aspirations of a connected youth seeking civic and individual freedoms. Today's Iran is no longer that of 1979: society has transformed, the regime has not. The gap between revolutionary discourse, promises of social justice, and socio-economic reality: inflation, unemployment, precarity, brain drain, corruption, diplomatic isolation—fuels disillusionment that undermines state legitimacy. Morocco officially severed ties with Iran in 2018, as Tehran supported the Polisario Front via Hezbollah and its embassy in Algiers, with Algeria's backing. Rabat holds evidence of arms deliveries and Polisario cadre training. Morocco's rupture appears as a strategic decision to prevent any perception of interference in its vital interests, particularly in the Sahara. It also fits into a broader realignment of regional alliances, marked by Rabat's rapprochement with certain Gulf partners and the USA, amid growing rivalries with the Iran-Algeria axis. Recent military and diplomatic developments highlight a troubling reality for Tehran: Iran often seems to react urgently rather than master the strategic tempo. The multiplication of peripheral fronts, from Lebanon to Gaza, Iraq to Yemen, occurs as its regional relays face growing pressures, sanctions, and targeted eliminations eroding "axis of resistance" cohesion. This situation can appear as much an admission of fragility. The ease with which the USA and Israel neutralize leaders even questions state competence. That said, announcing the regime's imminent collapse would be reckless. The security apparatus remains powerful, regional influence networks active. But will the regime once again demonstrate resilience, even at the cost of increased internal violence and harsh contestation management? **The regime must be clearly distinguished from the Iranian people, caught in a vise. Heir to a millennial civilization and rich intellectual tradition, it should not be reduced to the politico-religious elite's choices. Sanctions, repression, and isolation's sufferings weigh first on ordinary citizens, including those aspiring to peaceful change and the country's reintegration into the international community.** *History teaches much in identical situations. Transitions demand lucidity, responsibility, and an inclusive vision of the future. Regional stability will not arise from ideological escalation or destruction, but from rebalancing based on law, sovereignty, collective security, cooperation, and trust, today sorely eroded.* In this troubled sequence, solidarity first goes to the region's peoples, caught in dynamics beyond them. The mullahs will sooner or later answer to history—and to a simple but decisive question: did they serve the people, or sacrifice them to a political myth that time has made increasingly hard to sustain?