Fez – Former Moroccan international football player and national team assistant coach Mustapha Hadji has reacted to controversial topics surrounding the Moroccan national team in recent months, especially his sudden, unexplained dismissal.
In an interview with the Moroccan news outlet alyaoum24 on April 19, Hadji said that he faced rumors that tarnished his reputation. The rumors have accused him of benefiting from the national team with no return.
The former assistant coach further stressed that he heard many bad rumors that painted him, his family, and loved ones in a bad light
“I was called a “samsar” (agent), a thief, etc. It reached my mother’s ears and she was very [badly] touched by it,” Hadji said.
He also said that the unsubstantiated rumors had even reached his children who were occasionally told that their father was a “thief” who betrayed both the players’ and Moroccan fans’ trust.
Having reached such unexpected ends, Hadji revealed that he intends to sue all journalists and media outlets that intentionally carried out a “fierce and baseless media campaign against him.”
The Moroccan football legend called out all those who hold concrete evidence of these allegations to come forward and present them before the court.
Asked about the months-long rift between Moroccan football team head coach and Chelsea star Hakim Ziyech and Ajax right-back Noussair Mazraoui, Hadji stated that these players have occasionally expressed their willingness to return to the Moroccan squad.
He further urged the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) to answer the Moroccan fans’ calls and summon these players back to the national team.
“40 million Moroccans want to see these players in the national team, I do not see why they are denied that. After all, we work for Morocco and Moroccans, and we are supposed to meet their requirements and not go against the grain,” the former Moroccan international told alyaoum24.
Remembered most for his spectacular overhead kick against Egypt in the 1998 Africa Cup of Nations, Hadji had a remarkable career with Morocco’s Atlas Lions, qualifying for the 1994 and 1998 World Cups.
He played for different international football clubs, including Sporting CP, Deportivo, Coventry City, Espanyol, and Emirates Club.
After a 20-year-long career, Hadji decided to hang up his boots and embark on a coaching journey, working as an assistant coach.
His first experience as an assistant was with the Qatari football team Umm Salal (2012- 2013) and then with former Moroccan coach Ezzaki Badou in 2014.
Since then, he became an indispensable piece of Morocco’s Atlas Lions coaching staff before leaving the management board early in March.
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