Morocco’s football president speaks again on Yamal’s decision to play for Spain

Moroccan football federation president Fouzi Lekjaa has revisited the debate surrounding Lamine Yamal, insisting Morocco respects the decisions of dual-national players while maintaining pride in its cultural ties to them.

Speaking during an interview with Onze Mondial, Lekjaa addressed several topics linked to Moroccan football, including the long-running discussion over players eligible to represent more than one country.

The president of the Moroccan Football Federation also commented on issues surrounding the 2025 AFCON final and Senegal’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the Confederation of African Football’s decision to award the title to Morocco. However, it was his latest remarks about Yamal that drew particular attention.

Born in Spain to a Moroccan father, the FC Barcelona teenager chose to represent Spain national football team in September 2023 after months of speculation over his international future.

Lekjaa said Morocco approached the situation by presenting its football project without placing pressure on the player.

“Regarding players with dual nationality, we present the Moroccan football project to all the talents concerned, without ever conditioning their sporting choice.

The management of players with dual nationality has never been a matter of instant decisions or rushed choices,” the Moroccan football chief explained.

He then added a pointed remark while discussing Yamal’s identity and connection to Morocco.

“There’s a lot of noise surrounding these issues, especially regarding Lamine Yamal. To be clear, I don’t know of any Spaniard named ‘Jamal’ in the history of Spanish football. But that doesn’t matter,” Lekjaa stated.

The comments appeared to underline the belief within Morocco that, despite choosing Spain at international level, the young winger still maintains strong Moroccan roots and cultural ties.

Lekjaa also stressed that Morocco continues to value players of Moroccan heritage even when they commit to another national team project.

He referenced the importance of maintaining positive relationships with those players regardless of their final decision.

“For us in the Kingdom, all players with dual nationality who hold Moroccan citizenship are fully Moroccan. (…) Their decision in no way alters our relationship with them.

What matters is that our history and our civilization allow us to be proud, even when players of our heritage contribute to the influence of other great nations, like Spain,” Lekjaa said.

The debate around Yamal’s international allegiance has remained a major talking point since the teenager emerged as one of Spain’s brightest talents.

Morocco had hoped to convince the Barcelona prodigy to represent the Atlas Lions before he eventually committed his future to La Roja.