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Morocco to roll out K3.6bn project before end of year

The Royal Morocco Football Federation (FRMF) has said it will kick-start its $5 million (about K3.6 billion) infrastructure projects before the year ends.

Initially, the project was set to roll out early August, but according to director of football at the Moroccan FA, Hadji Mouad, they were working on other logistics first.

MDC Stadium

“We are committed to this three-year partnership deal with the Malawi FA .

“We recently sent consultants to carry out a feasibility study and in the next two months we should get going,” said Mouad in an interview on Thursday.

FAM president Walter Nyamilandu said one of the reasons for his visit was to follow up on the agreement.

He said: “We are meeting today [yesterday] to make a follow-up on the issue.The partnership is a ground-breaking one for African football where federations more generally rely on outside money—usually from Fifa grants—for infrastructure support.”

The project includes construction of a technical centre in Lilongwe complete with offices, 50 rooms, fitness centre, office block, restaurant and installation of an artificial turf.

The second phase will include installation of an artificial turf at Luwinga Technical Centre in Mzuzu  and a natural turf at MDC Stadium in Blantyre.

The deal was announced in Lilongwe a few months ago with Mouad, saying the partnership was initiated by the Moroccan King Mohammed VI and President Peter Mutharika.

Putting the project into the narrative of pan-African cooperation, Mouad said: “We do not have to depend on Europe to develop our football.”

The deal came just four months after Morocco rejoined the African Union and as the North African country seeks to strengthen its ‘soft’ power in a region traditionally dominated by South Africa and friendly to the aspirations of the Western Sahara for independence.

The Moroccan FA also offered to host all the national football teams, including women and beach soccer, as part of the agreement and already, the Flames have started enjoying the benefits by camping in the North African country. where they will play two international friendlies against Morocco reserve side and Togo.

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