Rabat – In a video published just days before the final games of the CAF Confederation Cup, Mortada Mansour, the president of Al Zamalek sports club, addressed a message to Fouzi Lekjaa, the president of the the president of both the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) and the Moroccan football club Nahdat Berkane (RS Berkane).
Assuming that Lekjaa cherry-picked referees to oversee his clubs’ games, Mansour said in a warning tone that Lekjaa should equally treat the Egyptian football club Al Zamalek if he wanted his club treated the same way in Egypt.
“If you respected our team and stuff and our country,” said Mansour, “we would reciprocate the same respect to yours.” The Egyptian was referring to the sounding of of alarm bells to wake up the Tunisian Sfax club at 5 a.m on the day of the semi-final away game in Morocco.
Mansour warned Lekjaa against distorting the Moroccan-Egyptian relations through such attitude, which he said is not characteristic of Moroccans.
Zamalek and RS Berkane will face each other in the African Confederation final in a two-leg confrontation in late May. The first leg is scheduled for May 19 in Morocco, with Zamalek hosting the second leg a week later.
