Rabat, Morocco (TMT)- The National Police has referred a sports official from the city of Safi and a Casablanca-based journalist to court on suspicion of being involved in a ticket-scalping operation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The suspects were allegedly involved in obtaining tickets for the knockout rounds of the World Cup for free and selling them for huge amounts of money in the black market.
The tickets were primarily intended to be distributed for free to Moroccan fans.
During a meeting of the Executive Board on December 27, 2022, the President of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, Fouzi Lekjaa, stated that the Federation had launched an investigation into the “ticket sales scandal in Qatar”, emphasizing that “anyone proven to be involved in the case will not find a place in the world of Moroccan football”, stressing that the results of the investigation will be released by January 10, 2023.
However, the results of the investigation were not shared on time as promised, which triggered a wave of criticism among Moroccan fans.
The President of the Moroccan Association for the Protection of Public Funds, Mohammed Al-Ghalousi, was one of those at the forefront to criticize Lekjaa for the delay.
Today, only a minimum of information were shared with the media. All circumstances and details surrounding the manipulation were not revealed yet.
The initial investigation, according to the officials, involved gathering statements from people who bought tickets from the suspects, as well as tracking the routes the tickets were obtained and sold through.
The investigation is still ongoing, and more individuals may be identified as being involved in the operation.
The Moroccan Times.
