Maghreb Fez Issues Protest Statement Criticizing Refereeing Errors and Match Scheduling

Maghreb Fez (MAS) club has issued a protest statement expressing its dissatisfaction with a series of decisions and circumstances that have accompanied the team's matches since the start of the current sports season. The club believes these issues have clearly undermined the principle of equal opportunities and negatively impacted the club's interests and its fans.

The club published the statement on its official Facebook account, which read: "The club's management chose to issue this statement at this time, despite the positive sporting trajectory the team is experiencing, most recently achieving a victory in its last match. This is to affirm that the protest stems from lived reality and is not an attempt to hide, justify results, or seek excuses, but rather from its responsibility to defend the club's rights and interests. However, the repetition of a series of incidents and decisions that have affected the club's interests since the start of the sports season has made silence impossible, as matters have reached an unbearable point."

The statement continued: "In the last match, which brought our team together with Olympique Dcheira, as part of the 15th round of the 'Inwi' Professional League, the club was surprised by a decision to change the match date. It was originally scheduled for Sunday, March 8th, at 10:00 PM, but was moved to Saturday, March 7th, at the same time, at Adrar Stadium in Agadir, without any clear explanation for this sudden change."

It added: "This decision caused significant disruption to the team's preparations, especially since the club had scheduled a friendly match last Tuesday against Wydad Athletic Club Fes as part of the technical staff's preparatory program. This change in match timing clearly affected the preparation schedule for the encounter, in addition to the accompanying organizational constraints related to flight and accommodation bookings and travel arrangements. Furthermore, it caused damage to a number of the team's fans who had booked travel tickets and arranged their transportation according to the previously announced date, only to be surprised by this sudden change."

The statement further noted: "Even more strangely, the official page of the National Professional Football League justified this decision by stating it was to make way for postponed matches from the tenth round. However, everyone was later surprised that these postponed matches had not been scheduled up to the date of this statement's release, which raises more than one question mark about the logic behind such decisions and the method of managing scheduling."

It continued: "Revisiting the sequence of events since the start of the sports season, the club was surprised during the second round of the National Professional League, in the match against Hassania Agadir, by a decision to move the match time forward to 4:00 PM instead of 8:00 PM. This decision caused significant organizational and logistical disruption, especially for the team's fans who had planned their travel and attendance according to the previously announced time."

The club added: "In the same context, Maghreb Fez has been clearly affected by scheduling irregularities since the resumption of competitions. The team found itself forced to stop for nearly three months before playing only two matches, only to then stop again for three full weeks, while other teams continued to play their matches. This situation, where our team was uniquely halted for long weeks, raises legitimate questions about the principle of equal opportunities among clubs."

It further stated: "The club was surprised by the decision to close the sports complex in Fez, unlike other stadiums, before the league's suspension, under the pretext of preparing to host the Africa Cup of Nations competitions. This decision cost the club significant financial losses, deprived it of the support of its large fan base, and forced it to play its matches at Hassan II Stadium under exceptional circumstances. Despite these constraints, the club chose at the time to act responsibly and support the national effort to ensure the success of the major sporting events hosted by our country."

MAS pointed out in its statement that "the club has recorded influential refereeing errors during a number of matches that directly affected the course and results of the games. The club dealt with these situations at the time with sportsmanship, considering that refereeing errors might be part of the nature of the game. However, the striking repetition of these errors has now raised more than one question mark."

It further stated: "The last match against Olympique Dcheira saw surprising refereeing incidents, including our team being denied a legitimate penalty, especially given the lack of equal technical conditions across different matches in terms of camera numbers and television broadcast quality. It is unacceptable to rely on offside line-drawing technology in matches not broadcast with a sufficient number of cameras to provide the precise angles necessary for making crucial decisions of this type, which necessitates a reconsideration of the mechanisms for applying this technology and a review of the adopted technical standards. The club also noted during this match the malfunction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology during certain phases of the game, which in turn raises legitimate questions about the technical readiness of this system in some matches and underscores the necessity of ensuring its full and stable operational conditions to preserve the principle of refereeing fairness."

The statement concluded: "The match against Kawkab Marrakech also witnessed a controversial refereeing decision, which was the issuance of a harsh and undeserved red card to team player Adam Brika, alongside other decisions that affected the course of the match. The club affirms that it has chosen the path of organized institutional work and has actively engaged in activating the sports company project and adopting a modern governance approach in management, in line with the high directives of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist him, who has made sport a fundamental lever for development, as well as within the framework of the reform project led by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation to develop and elevate national football."

"Finally, Maghreb Fez club reminds that its ancient history and standing in national football do not allow it to be easily subjected to such irregularities."