Daouda: Building confidence and consolidating field achievements is the key to confronting false narratives

Sports expert and analyst Aziz Daouda said that what the media is promoting “East of the Wall” is not just passing noise, but rather falls within what he called a “media narrative” directed primarily for Algerian internal consumption, stressing that the most appropriate response is not to be drawn into the debate, but rather to consolidate a Moroccan national narrative based on field facts and achievements.

During his appearance as a guest on the Hespress discussion program, Daouda responded to the accusations that talk about Morocco’s “control” of the Confederation of African Football, explaining that the Moroccan presence within this continental institution is an active presence that aims primarily to develop African football, and not an undeserved privilege as some promote. He added that the presence of influential Moroccan figures, led by Faouzi Lakjaa, represents an added value in terms of strategic vision and the ability to present reform ideas for developing the game on the continent.

The same expert pointed out that the successes achieved by Moroccan football in the recent period, which were embodied in reaching nine continental and global finals in one year, and winning seven of them, are not the result of administrative decisions or influence within institutions, but rather the result of continuous institutional work and long-term investment in infrastructure and training. He denounced: “Is it possible that Lakjaa is the one who decides the results at the global level as well?”, referring to what he considers to be media exaggerations that attempt to cast doubt on achievements. Moroccan national teams and clubs.

Speaking about some of the controversial matches, the same speaker touched on the atmosphere that accompanied the final that brought together the Moroccan team with its Senegalese counterpart, considering that the Moroccan players faced great pressure on the field, in light of an atmosphere that he described as fraught from the beginning. He explained that excessive violence and unsportsmanlike roughness, in addition to the attempts of fans to storm the field to influence the course of the match, created unnatural conditions that affected the technical performance and psychological state of the team.

At the level of the media role, the sports analyst stressed that “the task of demolition is much easier than the task of construction,” criticizing what he described as “propaganda” that relies on repeating false information to establish a negative mental image among the public. In return, he called for strengthening the Moroccan media presence with a rational and balanced discourse, not based on drumming, but on presenting data and achievements objectively.

In anticipating the next stage, Daouda expected that attention would turn more towards Morocco after the World Cup in the United States, with the possibility of the emergence of Western media campaigns, especially from some movements in France, that may try to target the Kingdom through human rights issues or rumours, similar to what happened with Qatar during its organization of the 2022 World Cup.