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Sports in Morocco

CAF’s Appeal Board recorded the AFCON 2025 final as a 3–0 forfeit win for Morocco on 17 March 2026, under appeal at CAS; FIFA appointed Morocco a 2030 World Cup co-host; the sports law is Loi n° 30-09.
✓ Last reviewed: September 2026
Official nameKingdom of Morocco, as the national portal’s English home page gives it
NOC codeMAR, as Olympedia files the country; the IOC's own list of codes could not be retrieved
National Olympic CommitteeComité National Olympique Marocain (CNOM); creation notified to the IOC on 15 April 1959, integration ratified by the 55th IOC Session on 25 May 1959, per the CNOM
Sports lawLoi n° 30-09 relative à l’éducation physique et aux sports, dahir n° 1-10-150 of 24 August 2010; BO n° 5885 of 25 October 2010 as the ministry’s database cites it
Football federation, CAF recordFédération Royale Marocaine de Football: created 1955; affiliated to CAF 1959 and to FIFA 1960, as CAF prints them
Football federation, CNOM recordfounded 1956; FIFA since 1960; CAF since 1966, as the CNOM prints them
AFCON 2025 final, CAF recordSenegal 1–0 Morocco after extra time, 18 January 2026; recorded 3–0 to Morocco by the CAF Appeal Board, 17 March 2026; CAS appeal pending
2030 FIFA World Cupco-host with Portugal and Spain, appointed by the Extraordinary FIFA Congress of 11 December 2024

What sports are played in Morocco?

The Comité National Olympique Marocain (CNOM) publishes a directory of national federations across several pages and prints no total. Its first page runs from the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Kick Boxing Muay Thai-Savate et Sports Assimilés and the federation of tang soo do through badminton, basket-ball, body building, boxe, bridge, cricket, cyclisme, football, golf, gymnastique, hand ball, hockey, hockey sur glace, ju-jitsu, judo et arts martiaux assimilés, and karaté et disciplines associées.[1]

Olympedia's medals-by-sport table for Morocco carries Olympic Games rows in athletics, boxing and football, and separate Youth Olympic Games rows in taekwondo, alpine skiing, karate, athletics and boxing.[2]

The sports law defines its field broadly. Article 1 of Loi n° 30-09 opens: “Au sens de la présente loi, on entend par : activités physiques et sportives : les activités sportives ou handisport faisant ou non partie des sports olympiques ou paralympiques”.[3]

What is the most popular spectator sport in Morocco?

No measured ranking of spectator sports in Morocco was retrieved. The proxies retrieved concern football.

Attendance. CAF's review of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, hosted by Morocco, states: “Highest attendance of the tournament: Senegal vs Morocco – 66,526 spectators”. That is the figure for the final, a single match; the review as read prints no attendance total for the tournament, and the article carries no printed date.[4]

The national team. FIFA's page for the Moroccan federation lists seven FIFA World Cup appearances, gives the best performance as fourth place in 2022 and the last as the quarter-finals in 2026.[5] No television audience figure for a sports broadcast was retrieved.

How is sport organised in Morocco?

The name. The national portal's English home page opens: “Welcome to the official portal of the Kingdom of Morocco.”[6]

The statute. Sport is governed by Loi n° 30-09 relative à l'éducation physique et aux sports, promulgated by dahir n° 1-10-150 du 13 ramadan 1431 (24 August 2010). The text read is the one the ministry's legal database publishes, which cites Bulletin Officiel n° 5885 of 25 October 2010 and records “Date de dernière modification : Aucune modification”; the gazette issue itself was not read.[3] Article 36 provides that “Toute fédération sportive doit déléguer à une ligue professionnelle qu'elle crée à cet effet” the organisation of its professional competitions when at least 50 per cent of the licensed athletes in the national senior elite competitions are professionals, or at least 50 per cent of the participants are sports companies.[3]

The Olympic committee. Article 40 states: “Le Comité national olympique marocain est doté de la personnalité morale.” Article 43 charges it, among other tasks, to “représenter le Maroc aux Jeux Olympiques et aux compétitions et manifestations sportives, régionales, continentales ou mondiales, organisées sous l'égide du Comité international olympique”. Article 44 creates a “chambre arbitrale du sport” within the committee.[3]

Committee dates. The CNOM's history opens: “15 avril 1959 : un télégramme est envoyé au siège du Comité International Olympique.” It states that “la 55e session ordinaire du Comité International Olympique qui se tient à Munich le 25 mai de la même année, entérine l'intégration du Maroc au sein de la famille olympique.”[7] Olympedia states: “After gaining independence from France in 1956, a Moroccan National Olympic Committee was established on 15 April 1959, which was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the IOC Session in München in May of the same year.”[2]

Football. CAF's page for the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football (FRMF) prints “Created 1955”, “Affiliated to FIFA 1960” and “Affiliated to CAF 1959”.[8] The CNOM's page for the same federation prints “Fondée en 1956”, “affiliée à la FIFA depuis 1960” and “membre de la CAF depuis 1966”.[9] The two records differ; neither is adopted here. FIFA's own page for the federation, as read, prints no year of admission.[5]

What are the main domestic leagues and competitions?

Professional football. Hespress reported on 28 August 2026 that the Ligue nationale de football professionnel (LNFP) had set 24 September 2026 as the start of the 2026–27 season of the first and second divisions, which it named “Botola Pro « Inwi »”.[10] The LNFP's own site could not be retrieved, so the league's name is given as that report prints it.

The legal basis. The league exists under the delegation that Article 36 of Loi n° 30-09 requires of a federation whose elite senior competitions meet the professional thresholds; Article 38 requires a convention approved by the administration.[3]

Continental club football. RS Berkane reached the semi-finals of the 2023–24 CAF Confederation Cup, against USM Alger.[11]

How has Morocco performed at the Olympic Games?

All figures here are Olympedia's, read from its Medals by Games and Medals by sport tables for the code MAR, as rows. Olympedia prints no totals row under either table. Olympedia's narrative text states: “Through 2022, Moroccan athletes have won 24 Olympic medals (seven gold)”; the rows below are the tables', which include 2024.[2]

Editions and codes. Olympedia's participation table lists Morocco, as “Morocco”, at the Summer Games of 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024, and at the Winter Games of 1968, 1984, 1988, 1992, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026. It lists no 1980 row. The table begins in 1960; it has no 1906 row and no art-competition row. Nothing filed under another code, including FRA, is included here.[2]

1960 to 1988. In gold, silver and bronze: 1960, 0, 1, 0; 1984, 2, 0, 0; 1988, 1, 0, 2. There is no medal row for 1964, 1968, 1972 or 1976.[2]

From 1992. 1992, 1, 1, 1; 1996, 0, 0, 2; 2000, 0, 1, 4; 2004, 2, 1, 0; 2008, 0, 1, 1; 2012, 0, 0, 1; 2016, 0, 0, 1; 2020, 1, 0, 0; 2024, 1, 0, 1. There is no Winter Games medal row.[2]

By sport. The Olympic Games rows are athletics (8, 5, 8), boxing (0, 0, 4) and football (0, 0, 1).[2]

Youth Olympic Games. Youth Olympic Games rows are typed separately and are not included above: 2010, 0, 0, 1; 2012 (Winter), 1, 0, 0; 2014, 0, 0, 1; 2018, 1, 5, 1.[2]

Which athletes and teams are internationally recognised?

Olympic golds, in athletics. Olympedia's 1984 rows list Saïd Aouita as gold medallist in the men's 5,000 metres. They list Nawal El-Moutawakel as gold medallist in the women's 400 metres hurdles.[12] Its 1988 rows list Brahim Boutayeb as gold medallist in the men's 10,000 metres.[13] Its 1992 rows list Khalid Skah as gold medallist in the men's 10,000 metres.[14] Its 2004 rows list Hicham El Guerrouj as gold medallist in the men's 1,500 metres and in the men's 5,000 metres.[15] Its 2020 rows list Soufiane El-Bakkali as gold medallist in the men's steeplechase.[16] Its 2024 rows list him again as gold medallist in the same event.[17]

Olympic football. Olympedia's 2024 rows list Morocco as bronze medallist in the men's football tournament.[17]

FIFA's record. FIFA's page for the Moroccan federation lists Morocco as winners of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2025 and of the FIFA Arab Cup in 2025, gives fourth place in 2022 as the senior team's best FIFA World Cup performance, and records the women's team reaching the round of 16 of the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2023.[5]

The World Cup, as dated results. 11v11, a single secondary statistics site, lists Morocco's 3-1 win over Portugal at the FIFA World Cup on 11 June 1986 and a 1-0 win over Portugal on 10 December 2022.[18] It lists FIFA World Cup matches of 14 December 2022 and 9 July 2026, each as France 2, Morocco 0, without naming the round.[19]

What major international competitions has Morocco hosted?

Africa Cup of Nations 2025. CAF dated the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 “From 21 December 2025 to 18 January 2026”, with 24 teams and venues in Rabat, Casablanca, Agadir, Marrakech, Fès and Tangier.[20] CAF's match report of 18 January 2026, headlined “Gueye extra time stunner hands Senegal TotalEnergies AFCON title”, recorded the final in Rabat as Senegal 1, Morocco 0 after extra time.[21]

The decision on the final. On 17 March 2026 the CAF Appeal Board, on the FRMF's appeal, set aside a CAF Disciplinary Board decision and upheld the FRMF's protest. Its ruling states that “the Senegal team is declared to have forfeited the match, with the result recorded as 3–0 in favour of the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football (FRMF)”, applying Article 84 of the AFCON Regulations after finding that the Senegalese federation, “through the conduct of its team, infringed Article 82”.[22] The Court of Arbitration for Sport registered the Senegalese federation's appeal against that decision on 25 March 2026.[23] On 24 July 2026 it announced: “The hearing will take place on 8 October 2026, at CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.” It added: “CAS cannot state when a final decision will be rendered but it will not be on the day of the hearing.”[24] No CAS award had been announced by 27 September 2026.

Africa Cup of Nations 2015. CAF reported on 6 February 2015 that its Executive Committee, holding that force majeure “cannot be accepted” for the Moroccan federation, had decided to suspend Morocco's national team from the 2017 and 2019 editions and to impose a fine of US$1 million, and by a separate measure charged the federation €8.05 million in compensation for damage sustained “as a result of the decision not to host AFCON 2015”.[25] Al Jazeera, carrying a Reuters report of 3 April 2015, quoted CAS: “The suspension … of the next two editions of the African Nations Cup … is annulled and the fine imposed to the Royal Federation of Moroccan Football is reduced to $50,000”, and “The question related to the compensation of the possible damage caused by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation to the CAF may still be examined by another jurisdiction.” CAS's own release could not be retrieved.[26]

FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. FIFA reported on 14 March 2024 that Morocco would stage the tournament “after it was awarded multi-year hosting rights by the FIFA Council to organise the new annual, expanded tournament every year between 2025 and 2029.”[27] FIFA dated the 2025 edition from 17 October to 8 November 2025, opening at Rabat's Olympic Stadium.[28] It dates the 2026 edition in Morocco from 17 October to 7 November 2026, which had not begun on 27 September 2026.[29]

2030 FIFA World Cup. FIFA announced on 11 December 2024, from an Extraordinary FIFA Congress held virtually, the “appointment by acclamation of the hosts of the 2030 and 2034 editions of the FIFA World Cup™”, under the heading “Morocco, Portugal and Spain to host FIFA World Cup 2030™”, with “Three centenary celebration matches to take place in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay in 2030”.[30] That tournament has been awarded and has not been played.

What are Morocco's main sporting rivalries?

All head-to-head counts here come from 11v11, a single secondary statistics site, not from either federation's own record. It prints won, drawn and lost only, and counts matches its own way, including some against B and under-21 sides.

Algeria, football. 11v11 prints Morocco's record as “Games won: 17 | Games drawn: 12 | Games lost: 8”. Its list opens with a 4-0 Moroccan win on 28 February 1963, listed as Algeria v Morocco, and its latest entry is a 2-2 draw at the FIFA Arab Cup on 11 December 2021, marked as a Moroccan loss.[31]

Algerian and Moroccan clubs, CAF and CAS. On 21 April 2024 CAF stated that the CAF Confederation Cup semi-final first leg between USM Alger and RS Berkane, scheduled that day in Algiers, had not taken place as planned, and that “The matter will be referred to the competent bodies.”[32] On 26 April 2024 the CAF Appeal Board ruled: “The Appeal filed by USM Alger against the CAF Organizing Committee for the Interclubs Competitions decision dated 24 April 2024 is dismissed.” CAF's statement does not say what the 24 April decision decided.[11] On 2 May 2024 CAF stated that the same committee, on the second leg scheduled for 28 April 2024, had decided to “Sanctionner l'USM Alger par un forfait de 0-3”, to refer the case to the Disciplinary Board, and that RS Berkane qualified for the final.[33] On 26 February 2025 CAS announced that it had upheld the Algerian Football Federation's appeal against an April 2024 decision of the CAF Appeals Jury that had maintained the approval of RS Berkane's shirts for that competition, and had declared USM Alger's own appeal inadmissible. It stated that the Panel “ruled that RS Berkane's shirts for the 2023/24 CAF Confederation Cup are contrary to CAF regulations, as they display a territorial map that is of a political nature”, and that “The CAS award has no effect on the results of the CAF Confederations Cup 2023/24.”[34]

Tunisia, football. 11v11 prints Morocco's record as “Games won: 15 | Games drawn: 24 | Games lost: 8”, from a 3-1 win at the Pan Arab Games on 23 October 1957 to a 2-0 friendly win on 6 June 2025.[35]

What is the role of school and university sport?

Physical education. Article 2 of Loi n° 30-09 opens: “L'enseignement de l'éducation physique et sportive est obligatoirement dispensé au sein des établissements d'éducation et d'enseignement scolaire public ou privé”. The same sentence extends the obligation to vocational-training establishments, penitentiary establishments and universities, and ends “des établissements d'enseignement supérieur public ou privé.”[3]

School sport. Article 5 provides that the associations of schools and vocational-training establishments “se constituent en la Fédération royale marocaine des sports scolaires (F.R.M.S.S), qui a pour mission de développer et promouvoir le sport scolaire”.[3]

University sport. Article 7 provides that the sports associations of universities and higher-education establishments “se constituent en la Fédération royale marocaine des sports universitaires (F.R.M.S.U.), qui a pour mission de développer et promouvoir le sport universitaire”.[3] No participation figures from either federation or from the education ministry were retrieved.

Were any sports invented in Morocco?

No federation, government instrument or standard reference retrieved claims that a sport was invented or codified in Morocco.

A heritage inscription. UNESCO inscribed Tbourida on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2021, with Morocco as the submitting state. Its description opens: “Tbourida is a Moroccan equestrian performance dating back to the sixteenth century. It simulates a succession of military parades, reconstructed according to ancestral Arab-Amazigh conventions and rituals.”[36] That is an inscription of a practice, not a claim of invention or a declaration of a national sport.

The provisions of Loi n° 30-09 that were read, articles 1, 2, 5, 7, 36, 38, 40, 43 and 44, name no national sport.[3]

References

  1. Comité National Olympique Marocain — Fédérations (directory, first page; paginated, no total printed). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  2. Olympedia — Morocco (MAR): country page, narrative, participation table, Medals by Games and Medals by sport tables. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  3. Ministère — Base de données juridique: Loi n° 30-09 promulguée par le dahir n° 1-10-150 du 13 ramadan 1431 (24 août 2010) relative à l’éducation physique et aux sports (BO n° 5885, 25 October 2010, as the database cites it; “Aucune modification”): articles 1, 2, 5, 7, 36, 38, 40, 43, 44. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  4. CAF — AFCON 2025 Review (highest attendance of the tournament; total goals). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  5. FIFA — Member associations: Morocco (tournament records; FIFA ranking update of 20 July 2026). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  6. Portail national du Maroc — English home page (“the official portal of the Kingdom of Morocco”). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  7. Comité National Olympique Marocain — Histoire du CNOM (15 April 1959 telegram; 55th IOC Session, Munich, 25 May 1959). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  8. CAF — Member associations: Morocco (Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football; created 1955, affiliated to CAF 1959 and to FIFA 1960, as CAF prints them). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  9. Comité National Olympique Marocain — Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football, federation page (founded 1956; FIFA 1960; CAF 1966, as the CNOM prints them). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  10. Hespress FR — Botola Pro (2026-2027): Les compétitions débuteront le 24 septembre prochain (28 August 2026). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  11. CAF — CAF Appeal Board Decision on the USM Alger / RS Berkane matter (26 April 2024). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  12. Olympedia — Morocco at the 1984 Summer Olympics: medal rows. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  13. Olympedia — Morocco at the 1988 Summer Olympics: medal rows. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  14. Olympedia — Morocco at the 1992 Summer Olympics: medal rows. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  15. Olympedia — Morocco at the 2004 Summer Olympics: medal rows. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  16. Olympedia — Morocco at the 2020 Summer Olympics: medal rows. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  17. Olympedia — Morocco at the 2024 Summer Olympics: medal rows. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  18. 11v11 — Morocco national football team: record v Portugal (single secondary source). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  19. 11v11 — Morocco national football team: record v France (single secondary source). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  20. CAF — Everything You Need to Know About the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2025 (17 December 2025). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  21. CAF — Gueye extra time stunner hands Senegal TotalEnergies CAF AFCON 2025 title (18 January 2026). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  22. CAF — CAF Appeal Board Media Statement (17 March 2026): AFCON Morocco 2025 final, Articles 82 and 84 of the AFCON Regulations. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  23. Court of Arbitration for Sport — Media release: CAS registers appeal by the Senegalese Football Federation (25 March 2026). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  24. Court of Arbitration for Sport — Media release: Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025, hearing and procedural update (Lausanne, 24 July 2026). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  25. CAF — Morocco fined, banned from two AFCON tournaments (CAF Executive Committee decision; 6 February 2015). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  26. Al Jazeera (Reuters) — Morocco’s African Cup ban overturned (3 April 2015; quotes the CAS statement; CAS’s own release not retrieved). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  27. FIFA — Morocco awarded multi-year hosting rights to FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup (14 March 2024). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  28. FIFA — Match schedule for FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco 2025 released following draw (5 June 2025). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  29. FIFA — Draw procedures for this year’s FIFA U-17 World Cup and FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup confirmed (2026 edition dates). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  30. FIFA — Extraordinary FIFA Congress appoints hosts of 2030 and 2034 editions of FIFA World Cup (11 December 2024). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  31. 11v11 — Morocco national football team: record v Algeria (single secondary source). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  32. CAF — CAF Media Statement: TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup: USM Alger vs RS Berkane (21 April 2024). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  33. CAF — Déclaration de la CAF relative à la réunion de la Commission d’organisation des compétitions interclubs (2 May 2024): RS Berkane v USM Alger second leg, forfait 0-3. Accessed 2026-09-27.
  34. Court of Arbitration for Sport — Media release: CAS upholds the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) appeal concerning the shirts of RS Berkane (26 February 2025). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  35. 11v11 — Morocco national football team: record v Tunisia (single secondary source). Accessed 2026-09-27.
  36. UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage — Tbourida (Morocco; Representative List, inscribed 2021, decision 16.COM). Accessed 2026-09-27.