By Satish Sekar © Satish Sekar (December 18^th 2025)

The Problem

I have been to many football events in Africa and have high hopes for this one. Morocco has excellent infrastructures and has invested greatly in them and also in developing and nurturing talent. But the story of how Morocco turned itself into Africa’s football powerhouse has not been appreciated as widely as it should have been.

Years ago, I met and interviewed Nasser Larguet, the man tasked with developing the Mohammed VI Academy in Salé. I had another interview with him recently (see https://empowersmag.com/empowersmagwp/2025/09/27/nasser-larguet-an-architect-of-moroccos-football-renaissance/) – this came a long time after first meeting him by visiting the Mohammed VI Complex in Salé while it was still being built to see him, but the story of Morocco’s football resurgence outdates it.

King Mohammed VI is a true football afficionado. First, he was perplexed, so his investment began to find out why Morocco had delivered just one AFCON title – 1976- despite great talent. The review found a variation of the club versus country battle. Morocco’s national team had depended largely on its clubs. Decades ago, that worked – the game was not what it is now. But as the years rolled by that model began to fail – miserably. It was bound to. The club puts its needs first – it has no need to develop players on any basis other than its needs. If it develops players for the national team as well, that’s excellent, but those running the clubs, especially major ones lie Wydad Athletic Club (WAC) or Raja – both giants of Casablanca – have different priorities. They do not need to develop players to fill holes in the national team – their priority is and must be building their own teams. That left holes in the development of players focused on the national team.

The Filho Effect

So, the problem – a major one was identified – clubs cannot be expected to develop players that are not suited for their own needs, especially as they, unlike national teams can buy what they need. The national team needed its own solution. From a terrible failure in a World Cup – France 1966 – a solution was born. The now prestigious Clairefontaine Academy was developed. It opened its doors in 1972 and provides a national team impetus to French footballers without taking on the role of club academies. Former Brasilian footballer, Francisco Filho, took on the task of developing players for national team duty. He did so fine a job that France won two European championships and two World Cups. Filho was exceptional and he became involved in African football, but that’s another story. He epitomises the required philosophy – there will be no instant gratification. You must sow the seeds before you can reap the fruit. Filho did that. He had an eager student in Nasser Larguet.

The Moroccan Solution

Morocco needed its own national academy and Larguet was tasked to develop it. Larguet explained his mission. He knew what support was needed before it could open its doors. The academy would provide education, accommodation and much more. Cooks were needed as nutrition is an essential component of developing healthy footballers. Academies have a shocking failure rate – Cardiff City has a fantastic one, but at most an academy would produce 10% that will play and more like just 1% that play at élite level. That is actually a shocking definition of success. It means 90% won’t make it at all on the pitch, so, what happens to them?