Lakdjaa Fell Under Microscope Of Fighting Corruption Within African Football Confederation (CAF)

The developments in the deteriorating relationship between the Moroccan makhzen regime and the European Union, which were marked by scandals of political corruption, opened the eyes of the world public opinion to the practices of the Moroccan regime, which are taking place out of sight, and which have affected more than one level and whose smell has become a stink in the noses. What are the repercussions of these scandals on the agendas that the Moroccan regime is working to achieve?
After nearly a quarter of a century, the Europeans became convinced that the Moroccan regime has no religion and no sect, and that friendship has no meaning and neighborhood has principles. So their deputies decided, with a close consensus (356 votes compared to 32 only), to direct a strong condemnation against the practices of the Moroccan regime in terms of human rights and freedom of expression in an open session.
European anger descended on the Moroccan regime after the latter’s scandals accumulated and became too big to be covered up, such as involvement in spying on senior officials in the countries of the old continent in what was known as the horrendous “Pegasus” scandal, such as hacking the phone of French President Emmanuel Macron and his senior aides in the government. The phone of the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, and the phones of his senior ministers (defense and interior), the former Belgian Prime Minister and the current President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the former European Union envoy to the Sahel, Italian, Romano Prodi, were hacked.
As for the drop that overflowed the cup and revealed the truth about the “makhzen” unequivocally, it was the scandals of bribery buying European deputies by the Moroccan regime, which toppled prominent heads in this sensitive institution, such as the Greek Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Eva Kaili, and Representatives Andrea Kozolino and Sergio Mattarella, and the former deputy in the same institution, the Italian Pier Antonio Panziri.
After all these developments, the image of the Moroccan regime in the world has fallen into disrepair, and it has become very difficult to whiten it, and it has become seen as a rogue regime. The interesting thing is that in light of this situation, the Makhzen regime is engaged in a decisive battle with Algeria to host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations , after the withdrawal from the bidding of the Republic of Guinea.
The one who holds the file for Morocco’s candidacy to host “Can 2025” is a minister in the government and president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, and a member of the African Union (CAF) at the same time, Fawzi Lakjaa, who has been described in the international media as the strong man within the African Football confederation (CAF), and he is put under the scrutiny of regional, continental and global scrutiny, as part of a corrupt system, does not hesitate to do anything outside of legal and Olympic norms, in order to achieve his goals.
Some of those familiar with the secrets of the Confederation of African Football attribute the control that Fawzi Lakjaa enjoys within the institutions of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), to his wearing of two hats, political and sports at the same time, in a rare case in the world, in addition to his presidency of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation; He holds a sensitive portfolio in his country’s government, which is the portfolio of a delegated minister to the Ministry of Economy and Finance in charge of the treasury, which means that the Moroccan people’s money is under his control, and then the possibility of harnessing it to serve his agenda at the level of the African Confederation (CAF), or in other words, its availability on the financial liquidity that enables him to potentially buy liabilities from weak-minded members of the Executive Office of the Confederation, to support his country’s bid to host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
And to the extent that Lakjaa’s influence is beneficial to his country’s file in order to host the 2025 African Nations’ Cup, this will, in turn, be a curse on the Moroccan file, because Lakjaa will be the most subject to suspicion, which puts him under the microscope of fighting corruption in the Confederation of African Football (CAF), from here and until the announcement of the winner of hosting the event before the end of next month, especially after evidence has proven the involvement of senior Moroccan officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, such as the Moroccan ambassador to Poland, Abdel Rahim Othmoun, and the director of the Moroccan Foreign Military Intelligence (General Directorate for Studies and Documentation), Mohamed Yassin Al-Mansouri, in buying European deputies in return for covering up the Moroccan regime’s gross abuses in the field of freedom of expression, harassing journalists and violating human rights, and supporting the Moroccan thesis in Western Sahara.
And based on all these data, all lights will be greatly shed on the President of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation in his relations with members of the Executive Office of the African football Confederation (CAF), which will decide on the file to host the 2025 African Nations’ Cup, especially since the fight against corruption within the African confederation (CAF) ), had overthrown one of Lakjaa’s friends, the Malagasy Ahmed Ahmed, the former president of this continental body, who was residing in Morocco.