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POLITICS

5 reasons the France vs Morocco World Cup clash is about more than just football

France take on Morocco in the semi-finals of the men's football World Cup on Wednesday evening - here are the historic and cultural reasons why this match is a big deal.

Published: 12 December 2022 16:15 CET
Updated: 14 December 2022 13:02 CET
5 reasons the France vs Morocco World Cup clash is about more than just football
A Morocco supporter waves a national flag near the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs Elysees in Paris on December 6, 2022. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

Les bleus take on Morocco on Wednesday at 8pm (French time) in the semi-final of the 2022 World Cup – and if you’re in France you can expect a lively evening.

Big screens and 10,000 police: What you need to know about the France v Morocco game

More than 17 million people tuned in to watch France and England play on Saturday, and the France vs Morocco game is set to draw an even wider audience.

Here’s why the game is about more than just football.

A brief history 

The two countries have a history, and not of the romantic kind – yes, this is about colonialism. 

France colonised and invaded Morocco’s neighbour Algeria in 1830 and, when it became clear some years later that the Moroccan sultan was sympathetic to the Algerian liberation movement, the French moved in on Morocco too. In 1904, France and Spain developed ‘spheres of influence’ in Morocco and in 1912 the two countries divided Morocco into two protectorates.

France created designations for the different parts of Morocco – urban areas were typically considered “Maroc Utile” and rural areas, “largely inhabited by Amazigh/Berber people,” were categorised as the not-at-all insulting “Maroc Inutile” (useless Morocco).

After uprisings against the French colonial authorities, Morocco eventually negotiated its independence in 1956.

Since then, relations between the two countries have been generally cordial with periodic moments of tension.

Foreign minister Catherine Colonna is due to make a trip to Morocco later this month in an attempt to smooth over some recent issues, including France’s decision in 2021 to cut the number of visas issued to Moroccans by 50 percent, arguing that the move was due to  Morocco’s “unwillingness” to cooperate in the extradition of irregular Moroccan migrants in France.

The Moroccan diaspora

Partly due to the aforementioned colonialism, Morocco has a huge diaspora – there are estimated to be approximately five million Moroccans and their immediate descendants living abroad, compared to a current population of Morocco of 37 million.

The country that attracts Moroccans the most is France – with over a third of the Moroccan diaspora making l’Hexagone their home. 

According to INSEE, as of 2019, Moroccans were the second-largest non-EU immigrant group in France, making up about 18.4 percent of the total immigrant population. 

Moroccans – and other members of the North African diaspora – living in France have also had a big impact on the country’s culture, from food to language. In 2021, France voted couscous, a staple of Maghrebi cuisine, as its favourite dish. Many famous French people also have Moroccan origins, like Leïla Slimani, the Franco-Moroccan writer and journalist.

Loyalties among many Moroccans in France may be divided on Wednesday with many of them also supporting the French team in football tournaments.

However it’s likely it won’t just be the Moroccan diaspora backing the Atlas Lions – as the football team are known – with those from North African countries like Algeria and Tunisia also likely to show support. 

Teammate against teammate

While not quite brother against brother, the 2022 Morocco World Cup team has a lot of French influence – including two players born in France (Roman Saiss and Sofiane Boufal).

Many people are also likely familiar with Achraf Hakimi, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain and is a good friend of France’s star player Kylian Mbappé. 

The two have even been trading tweets ahead of the big game:

Many of Morocco’s other players also play for other French teams.

The Moroccan team’s head coach, Hoalid (Walid) Regragui, was born in France too, not far from the country’s capital in the département of Essonne, and holds dual nationality.

Celebrating on the streets / police on alert

Morocco’s games tend to create a buzz in French cities (especially Paris and Marseille) even when the French team is not involved. 

After Morocco’s quarter final win over Portugal, nearly 20,000 people came out onto the Champs-Élysées to celebrate. The crowds fired off fireworks, and clashes with police occurred as well. 

The Paris police préfecture told Le Figaro that 108 arrests were made that night, and elsewhere in France 70 people were arrested in the aftermath of Morocco’s victory.

On Wednesday 10,000 extra police will be on duty – 5,000 of them in Paris and its suburbs – and if you’re not a fan of raucous football supporters we suggest steering clear of the Champs-Elysées on Wednesday.

A historic moment

It is not only Moroccans who will be supporting the ‘Atlas Lions’ – Wednesday’s match marks the first time an African or Arab country has ever reached the semi-finals of the World Cup.

Morocco’s victories in the tournament have sparked celebration across the Arab world, with many non-Moroccans supporting the team as well – both inside and outside of France. It’s possible that a few England fans – still smarting from their quarter final defeat – will suddenly develop a great fondness for Morocco.

A Tunisian man, Borhen Bibo, told NBC news in Doha, Qatar that “We are supporting all the Arabian teams. We have been cooperating for a long time and do have many things in common, like language, like religion.”

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POLITICS

Why is France accusing Azerbaijan of stirring tensions in New Caledonia?

France's government has no doubt that Azerbaijan is stirring tensions in New Caledonia despite the vast geographical and cultural distance between the hydrocarbon-rich Caspian state and the French Pacific territory.

Published: 17 May 2024 08:48 CEST
Why is France accusing Azerbaijan of stirring tensions in New Caledonia?

Azerbaijan vehemently rejects the accusation it bears responsibility for the riots that have led to the deaths of five people and rattled the Paris government.

But it is just the latest in a litany of tensions between Paris and Baku and not the first time France has accused Azerbaijan of being behind an alleged disinformation campaign.

The riots in New Caledonia, a French territory lying between Australia and Fiji, were sparked by moves to agree a new voting law that supporters of independence from France say discriminates against the indigenous Kanak population.

Paris points to the sudden emergence of Azerbaijani flags alongside Kanak symbols in the protests, while a group linked to the Baku authorities is openly backing separatists while condemning Paris.

“This isn’t a fantasy. It’s a reality,” interior minister Gérald Darmanin told television channel France 2 when asked if Azerbaijan, China and Russia were interfering in New Caledonia.

“I regret that some of the Caledonian pro-independence leaders have made a deal with Azerbaijan. It’s indisputable,” he alleged.

But he added: “Even if there are attempts at interference… France is sovereign on its own territory, and so much the better”.

“We completely reject the baseless accusations,” Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry spokesman Ayhan Hajizadeh said.

“We refute any connection between the leaders of the struggle for freedom in Caledonia and Azerbaijan.”

In images widely shared on social media, a reportage broadcast Wednesday on the French channel TF1 showed some pro-independence supporters wearing T-shirts adorned with the Azerbaijani flag.

Tensions between Paris and Baku have grown in the wake of the 2020 war and 2023 lightning offensive that Azerbaijan waged to regain control of its breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region from ethnic Armenian separatists.

France is a traditional ally of Christian Armenia, Azerbaijan’s neighbour and historic rival, and is also home to a large Armenian diaspora.

Darmanin said Azerbaijan – led since 2003 by President Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his father Heydar – was a “dictatorship”.

On Wednesday, the Paris government also banned social network TikTok from operating in New Caledonia.

Tiktok, whose parent company is Chinese, has been widely used by protesters. Critics fear it is being employed to spread disinformation coming from foreign countries.

Azerbaijan invited separatists from the French territories of Martinique, French Guiana, New Caledonia and French Polynesia to Baku for a conference in July 2023.

The meeting saw the creation of the “Baku Initiative Group”, whose stated aim is to support “French liberation and anti-colonialist movements”.

The group published a statement this week condemning the French parliament’s proposed change to New Caledonia’s constitution, which would allow outsiders who moved to the territory at least 10 years ago the right to vote in its elections.

Pro-independence forces say that would dilute the vote of Kanaks, who make up about 40 percent of the population.

“We stand in solidarity with our Kanak friends and support their fair struggle,” the Baku Initiative Group said.

Raphael Glucksmann, the lawmaker heading the list for the French Socialists in June’s European Parliament elections, told Public Senat television that Azerbaijan had made “attempts to interfere… for months”.

He said the underlying problem behind the unrest was a domestic dispute over election reform, not agitation fomented by “foreign actors”.

But he accused Azerbaijan of “seizing on internal problems.”

A French government source, who asked not to be named, said pro-Azerbaijani social media accounts had on Wednesday posted an edited montage purporting to show two white police officers with rifles aimed at dead Kanaks.

“It’s a pretty massive campaign, with around 4,000 posts generated by (these) accounts,” the source told AFP.

“They are reusing techniques already used during a previous smear campaign called Olympia.”

In November, France had already accused actors linked to Azerbaijan of carrying out a disinformation campaign aimed at damaging its reputation over its ability to host the Olympic Games in Paris. Baku also rejected these accusations.

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