Football: the Moroccan Federation defends TFC player Zakaria Aboukhlal against accusations of advocating Salafism
The TFC player and member of the Moroccan selection, recent semi-finalist of the World Cup, is accused by a Moroccan media of advocating Salafism. The Moroccan Federation already denies.
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) issued a statement on Sunday December 25 to “categorically” deny the accusations against its player Zakaria Aboukhlal, issued by the Moroccan media Achkayen.
In a long article published online Friday, December 23 and entitled “Aboukhlal, a Salafist in the national team”, Achkayen made accusations of apology for Salafism and religious proselytism against the TFC player and member of the Moroccan selection, half- finalist of the last World Cup. Achkayen believes in particular that the 22-year-old striker “has appeared on several occasions with people affiliated with the European Salafist movement”, and accuses him of taking advantage of his position in the national team to “disseminate his religious ideas indoctrinated by the Salafist sheikhs Europeans.” He refers in particular to a video published on social networks in which Aboukhlal, accompanied by the player Abdel Hamid Sabry, encourages non-Muslims to convert to Islam.
“The FRMF wishes to recall that Zakaria Aboukhlal has adopted, like his teammates, an exemplary behavior which has led to the signing of honorable results by the National Eleven in this planetary meeting” wrote the Moroccan federation in reaction, specifying “that it will use all means of recourse in order to protect the members of the National Selection from all false accusations affecting their personal lives or their behavior while exercising national duty.”