Mohamed El Hidaoui, deputy and leader of a professional football club, and sports radio journalist Adil EL Omari are guilty of selling tickets four or five times their value.
A Moroccan deputy and a sports journalist have been sentenced to prison terms following the embezzlement of tickets intended for Moroccan supporters during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, we learned on Saturday from a judicial source.
Judged on Friday before the Casablanca court of first instance, Mohamed El Hidaoui, deputy and leader of a professional football club, was sentenced to 18 months, his lawyer Mohamed Ben Malek told AFP. Elected from the National Rally of Independents (RNI, the party of head of government Aziz Akhannouch), he is also president of the Olympique Club de Safi, a team in the first division, and a member of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF). In detention since July 26, he will also have to pay a fine of 2,000 dirhams (190 euros).
“I continue to affirm the innocence of my client who has not committed any crime, I do not understand why he is being tried,” his lawyer, who wishes to appeal, told AFP.
The sports radio journalist, Adil EL Omari, received a 10-month prison sentence and a fine of 1,000 dirhams (95 EUR) in connection with the same case. However, he was released on bail.
Tickets sold four or five times their value
The two men were charged with attempted fraud and illicit resale of tickets. The scandal caused a stir when – in the midst of the Moroccan Atlas Lions team epic in Qatar – many fans to whom the Moroccan Football Federation had promised free tickets and who had come to encourage their team in Doha, had found themselves deprived of the precious sesame. The tickets had been sold on the black market for four or five times their value, according to testimonies collected on the spot by AFP.
Faced with the wave of general indignation, the Moroccan authorities had pledged to punish those responsible for the diversion of tickets. The two suspects were heard by the judicial police in early May as part of an investigation opened by the prosecution.
The emotion aroused by the scam had been all the greater since Morocco had reached the semi-final of the World Cup against France, a historic feat for an African and Arab selection.
