The president of a Moroccan football club was taken into custody on Wednesday in connection with a ticket scandal involving the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a judicial source told AFP.
Mohamed Hidaoui, the president of Olympique Club de Safi, a first division team, is accused of “attempted fraud and selling tickets at too high a price”, according to the source.
Hidaoui, a member of parliament for the National Rally of Independents (RNI), the party of prime minister Aziz Akhannouch, was remanded in custody by a public prosecutor in Casablanca.
A radio sports journalist is being prosecuted for the same offences, but has been released, the judicial source added.
The case caused quite a stir when at the height of the Atlas Lions’ epic journey in Qatar — many fans who had travelled to Doha found themselves deprived of free tickets promised by the Moroccan Football Federation.
The tickets were sold on the black market at four or five times their face value, according to accounts gathered at the time by AFP.
In the face of widespread indignation, the Moroccan authorities pledged to punish those responsible. The two suspects were questioned by the judicial police at the beginning of May as part of the investigation.
The emotion caused by the scam was all the greater because Morocco had reached the semi-finals of the World Cup against France, a historic achievement for an African and Arab team.
(AFP)
Follow us on:
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour has condemned the commercialisation of GMO seeds, warning of threats to Nigeria’s food…
Oleksandr Usyk has secured victory over Tyson Fury in Riyadh, successfully defending his heavyweight championship…
Albania plans a one-year TikTok ban from January after a schoolboy’s death sparks concerns over…
A suspect accused of killing five people by driving into a crowded Christmas market in…
A US Navy F/A-18 Hornet was mistakenly shot down over the Red Sea by the…
NNPC has reduced petrol ex-depot price to N899 per litre, sparking competition with Dangote Refinery…