English Premier League
Moroccan clubs divided over proposal to scrap relegation and expand top flight
A proposal to cancel relegation and increase the number of clubs in Morocco’s top division has been thrown into uncertainty after a meeting revealed significant opposition and a number of abstentions.
Officials from the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) and the National Professional Football League (LNFP) met representatives of clubs from the Moroccan league to discuss the proposed changes. According to Moroccan website El Botola, 17 clubs voted in favour of scrapping relegation and expanding the top division, while seven clubs did not support the plan, either by voting against it or abstaining.
The outcome was presented as a majority in favour of the proposal, but the divisions exposed during the meeting have raised questions over whether the plan can be implemented in its current form.
The positions of the clubs that did not back the proposal were split between outright rejection and abstention. However, information circulating about the precise stance of some clubs during the meeting was not entirely consistent.
Raja Club Athletic, Fath Union Sport, Union Touarga Sportif, COD Meknes, Chabab Soualem and Wydad Fes rejected the proposal, according to the report. AS FAR, Wydad AC and Maghreb de Fes chose not to vote in favour.
The reported breakdown has created a new complication for plans to alter the structure of Morocco’s top-flight competition, particularly because any change introduced from next season would be expected to comply with the country’s established legal and regulatory procedures.
Approval from the clubs concerned, alongside adherence to the rules governing domestic competitions, is likely to be one of the main obstacles facing the proposal. That issue would become even more significant if the new format were adopted as an exceptional measure outside the normal process.
El Botola said the presence of clubs opposed to the plan could make it difficult to pass in its current form. The website also highlighted the potential difficulty of introducing the change without following the procedures required under the regulations governing Moroccan football competitions.
The management board of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation now faces a complicated situation. The proposal had been expected to attract broader support from clubs across the Moroccan league, but the meeting instead exposed a lack of consensus.
The debate also appears to have extended beyond sporting considerations. Organisational issues and calculations linked to the wider football landscape and upcoming commitments were reported to have influenced the discussion, potentially making it harder for the various parties to agree on a new league structure for next season.
The final decision will therefore depend on whether the federation, the National Professional Football League and the clubs can overcome the objections raised during the meeting. Any agreement will also need to be compatible with the legal and regulatory framework governing the competition.
For now, the proposal to abolish relegation and increase the number of clubs in Morocco’s top division remains unresolved, with its future dependent on both political agreement among the clubs and compliance with the formal procedures required to approve such a major change.