CLUB WORLD CUP
Source of Morocco’s growing football influence unveiled!
Morocco’s Atlas Lions late last year became the most successful African country at the FIFA World Cup as the country made history of being the first in the continent to reach the semi-finals.
In the aftermath, they got the biggest prize money ever by an African team. Their prize money was $25 million.
It has been a worthy income for the investment that the country has made in football. Near the kingdom’s capital city, Rabat sat one of the mind-blowing football project sited at Sala Al-Jadida.
It called the Mohammed VI Football Complex. The project, a $6,114,925 (630 million in local currency -dirham) can be easily linked to the growing football success and influence of Morocco in the continent.
The complex is equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities, in line with FIFA standards, making it one of the most important in the world.
According to the director of the complex, Hassan Kharbouchi, it was inaugurated by the kingdom’s monarch, His Majesty King Mohammed VI in December 2019.
This complex is a real concentrate of expertise and know-how, built on a 29.3 hectare site, it is intended to host national teams in training camps, as well as foreign national teams wishing to carry out their concentration camps in Morocco.
European club champions, Real Madrid, were due to camp there on Thursday 2 February on arrival for the FIFA Club World Cup going on in Morocco.
Kharbochi revealed that the opening of the sports complex to foreign teams will also enable it to become a lever for the development of national tourism and to promote the international influence of Morocco.
Tucked inside the serene Sala Al-Jadida, the complex houses residences for the Atlas Lions when the fourth -placed side at the 2022 World Cup are camped.
The complex has saved a lot of foreign money that would have been spent in camping the players abroad.
At the disposal of the senior national team at the complex are 66 rooms and four suites.
Other tiers of the Morocco national teams are also taken care of at the complex. For the national U-23 teams are three accommodation blocks with a capacity of 150 beds.
The U17 team has 45 rooms with a capacity of 80 beds. There is another accommodation building that have 54 rooms with a total capacity of 98 beds.
The Mohammed VI complex has four natural grass football pitches, three synthetic grass football pitches, one indoor football pitch, one hybrid football pitch, as well as a reathletisation in-door arena capable of hosting futsal matches.
There is hardly any conceivable project not incorporated in the mind blowing complex as it also have an outdoor Olympic swimming pool, two tennis courts and a beach soccer pitch.
Perhaps the heart of the complex is the medical centre. It is composed of a clinic, a fitness zone and a physiotherapist office.
Also incorporated at the medical centre is a balneotherapy pool. This enable players to bath in minerals and other additives as a therapeutic modality.
A tour of the medical centre saw one entering the ground floor where immediately after the front desk is the exploration zone where the players are supposed to be examined.
The first point at the area is the Cardiology where the heart beats and other related parts of the body are examined. Next is the Emergency area where evaluation and possibly evacuation to hospital are done where necessary.
After that is the massive fitness planning room. On the left hand side is an area meant for goalkeepers where the equipment are supposed to assist in sharpening the reflexes of the goalkeepers.
On the right hand side is the area for the outfield players. Also on the ground floor is the Rehabilitation Pool. It composes of an indoor pool that is encased with glass at one end enabling evaluators to have a clear underwater view by evaluators.
Where anything is noticed, there is a pharmacy department as well as sauna and jacuzzi. Also at the ground floor is ice bath room which Kharbochi said is one of the three existing in sports complexes world wide.
The other two are at Chelsea FC and Bayern Munich in Germany. He explained that the ice bath rooms speed up the recovery rate for players especially in tournament period when they had to play competitive matches within few days.
“While the ordinary ice block is 5°C, the cryoair ice bath room offers -110°C. Thus, the player or patient will only ener for a duration of three minutes.
Some national team players were seen sitting at the waiting room for medical consultants to attend to them.
The medical centre have nutritionists, psychologists and personnel for traumatology.
Brazil formally has told FIFA it wants to host the 2029 Club World Cup, according to a report by ESPN Brazil.
The request was delivered during meetings in Rio de Janeiro as FIFA president Gianni Infantino visited the country.
Infantino’s trip was focused on kick-starting the buildup to the 2027 Women’s World Cup, which will be staged across eight host cities in Brazil.
Behind the scenes, Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) officials continued to push for FIFA’s expanded club tournament to grace South America’s biggest market. FIFA did not run a traditional bidding contest for the 2025 edition — instead appointing the United States to stage the 32-team event — and has yet to outline how the 2029 host will be selected.
CBF president Samir Xaud has framed the talks as ongoing, saying last year: “It’s a subject I discussed with president Infantino… God willing, Brazil will host the 2029 Club World Cup.”
For 2029, Brazil already has one club assured of a place in the tournament. Flamengo earned its spot by winning the 2025 Copa Libertadores title.
-Reuters
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Controversy has erupted following Chelsea’s dramatic victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup final, with reports suggesting that the trophy presented to the English club is a replica – and that the original remains in the possession of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Blues clinched the inaugural edition of the revamped tournament at the MetLife Stadium on Sunday, July 13, with captain Reece James receiving the silverware from Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
However, social media and the international press have been ablaze with claims that the trophy lifted during the celebrations was not the authentic one.
Videos from the post-match ceremony showed Trump lingering on the podium well after the presentation, standing beside James as he hoisted the trophy. This unusual move immediately drew attention.
Now, the intrigue has deepened following Trump’s own remarks in an interview with sports broadcaster DAZN, in which he admitted that the original trophy was currently “in his office at the White House.”
According to sources, Infantino unveiled the redesigned Club World Cup trophy at the White House shortly after Trump returned to office earlier this year, following his election win over Kamala Harris.
It now appears that the original trophy never left the presidential residence, prompting FIFA to commission a replica for the ceremony in New Jersey.
Adding fuel to the fire, Trump was also seen pocketing one of the winner’s medals during the event.
Infantino had handed him a medal, presumably for inspection, but the U.S. President was later spotted slipping it inside his blazer.
This led to online jokes among fans, with some suggesting he had taken the medal intended for Chelsea winger Noni Madueke, who left the squad just before the final to complete a surprise move to Arsenal.
Madueke was reportedly seen partying with Jadon Sancho at the Wireless Festival in London while Chelsea celebrated across the Atlantic.
The incident has cast an odd shadow over what was otherwise a historic moment for Chelsea, marking their first triumph under the new Club World Cup format.
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup set to take place in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, and the final returning to MetLife Stadium, questions may linger over the relationship between football’s global leadership and its most controversial political host.
FIFA has yet to comment officially on the trophy replica claims.
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U.S. President Donald Trump paid homage to soccer great Pele after being met with boos and cheers from the crowd at the Club World Cup final on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Chelsea walloped Paris St Germain 3-0 to close out the newly expanded version of the tournament, designed as a glittering curtain-raiser for the 2026 World Cup that the U.S. will co-host with Mexico and Canada.
Trump was seated next to FIFA boss Gianni Infantino in box seats at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where fans booed him when he appeared briefly on the jumbotron during the U.S. national anthem.
He was on his feet in the same VIP suite after Chelsea completed their thrashing of Paris St Germain, pumping his fist as congratulatory music blared.
Trump was met with boos from the crowd again as he posed with the match referees on the pitch during the trophy ceremony, as organisers kept the music pumping in the stadium.
He handed Chelsea their trophy and stood in the middle of the players for their team photo and celebration.
“I knew he was going to be there but I didn’t know he was going to be on the stand when we lifted the trophy so I was a bit confused,” said Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer, who scored two goals during the match.
Asked in a TV interview who he believed was soccer’s “GOAT,” Trump named Brazilian icon Pele, who helped spark interest in the sport in the U.S. in his brief time playing for the New York Cosmos in the fledgling North American Soccer League in 1975.
“I came to watch Pele, and he was fantastic,” Trump told broadcaster DAZN. “That’s like saying Babe Ruth, but I would say Pele was so great.”
Trump has embraced sport’s super-sized spotlight during his second term, becoming the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl in February.
In May, he announced D.C. as the host for the 2027 NFL Draft from the Oval Office. He regularly attends UFC and has said he wants to host such fights at the White House next year.
FIFA announced last week that it had opened an office in New York’s Trump Tower ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which the U.S. will co-host with Canada and Mexico. A record 48 national teams are set to take part.
Trump’s appearance at MetLife came a day after he threatened to impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the European Union, an escalation of a trade war that has angered U.S. allies and rattled investors.
-Reuters
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