League Suspension Affects Championship Schedule
The National Professional Football League announced a temporary suspension of the Professional Championship in its first division on Tuesday evening. The league stated that this decision is aimed at providing Moroccan clubs participating in African competitions with the opportunity to play both the first and second leg matches in the quarter-finals under optimal conditions. This suspension coincides with the holiday period of Eid al-Fitr.
In the quarter-finals of the African Champions League, RS Berkane is set to face Sudanese club Al-Hilal, while Royal Army will clash with Egyptian team Pyramids. In the African Confederation Cup, Wydad Casablanca will meet Olympic Safi. The first leg matches are expected to take place at the end of this week, with the return matches scheduled for the following weekend.
However, the league's announcement did not clarify the fate of postponed matches, a matter that has led teams like Raja Casablanca and Maghreb Fes to refuse to play their return matches before resolving these outstanding fixtures. Raja Casablanca has formally communicated with the league regarding the scheduling of return matches, indicating that they have completed all their first-round matches, while other teams have not yet finished their postponed games in the same round. This situation could impact the fairness of the standings and the regularity of the competition.
Raja's correspondence referenced Article 20, paragraph four of the competition regulations, which stipulates that postponed matches from the first round must be played as soon as possible before the start of the second round. Consequently, Raja requested the postponement of their second-round matches until the outstanding first-round games are settled, in order to uphold the principle of equal opportunity and respect the regulations governing the competition.
Similarly, Maghreb Fes has intensified its rhetoric towards the professional league, expressing strong protest in an official statement against what it described as a series of decisions and circumstances surrounding the team's matches since the beginning of the season. The club argued that these issues have clearly affected the principle of equal opportunity and the interests of the club and its fans.
The Fes club clarified that their protest is not related to the team's results or an attempt to justify them, but stems from their responsibility to defend the club's rights, as they have repeatedly faced scheduling irregularities. The most recent of these was the rescheduling of their match against Olympic Dcheira in the 15th round of the professional league. This match was originally set for Sunday but was moved to Saturday at the same time, at the Agadir stadium, without providing convincing explanations for this decision, leading to significant disruption in the team's preparation and logistical challenges, as well as impacting many fans who had arranged their travel according to the previously announced date.
The statement intensified its criticism by noting that the league justified this change to facilitate outstanding matches from the tenth round. However, those matches were not scheduled later, raising questions about the reasoning behind such decisions and the management of the schedule.
Maghreb Fes also reported other irregularities in the competition calendar, as they found themselves forced to stop for nearly three months before playing only two matches, followed by yet another prolonged stoppage while other clubs continued to play their matches regularly. This situation was viewed as a clear violation of the principle of equal opportunity among teams.
Many observers believe that this suspension may increase pressure on the remaining rounds of the championship, especially since the league is required to comply with FIFA's decision to conclude competitions by May 15. This implies that the scheduling window will shrink for the remaining 15 rounds, in addition to the postponed matches for the four clubs competing in Africa, potentially necessitating the completion of more than 15 matches within a month and a half. Such a situation could disproportionately benefit larger clubs over others.
As reported by alittihad.info.
