August 4 – The president of the Moroccan FA, Fouzi Lekjaa, who with Saudi Arabia led the proposal at FIFA’s Congress for the World Cup to be played every two years, has again led Africa’s call for the concept, issuing a stinging rebuke of UEFA and others who oppose the concept.
Lekjaa is well known for getting in the face of people, not least when he headbutted a referee when a club result did not go to his liking. The charges against him were dropped after the referee mysteriously withdrew his complaint.
See CAF in crisis: Disciplinary committee fails to rule on headbutting Moroccan president http://www.insideworldfootball.com/2019/07/10/caf-crisis-disciplinary-body-fails-rule-headbutting-moroccan-fa-president-lekjaa/
Now Lekjaa is questioning the integrity of Europe in particular, that it is apparently discriminating against millions of people and, remarkably considering his own history, questions whether Europe respects a democratic process.
In an interview with Le360 Sports, Lekjaa, who is also a FIFA Council member, said a biennial World Cup would give African teams more chance to improve by competing more often with the best countries and says those who are against it are “selfish” and “egotists”.
“Only eight teams have won the World Cup. And most part of the participants are always the same,” Lekjaa said.
“We need to make the World Cup a much more inclusive competition not only with the already approved increase of teams but also with an increase in the frequency.”
“Those who are against the World Cup every two years are selfish people who discriminate against billions of people just to protect their own commercial interests.”
“A great competition is forged by the quality and meaning of it not because (it) is rare. The World Cup will keep being an amazing competition while at the same time being more democratic and giving less developed nations an opportunity to participate and get better.”
“I have to say I was extremely disappointed with some reactions on this matter. The international match calendar is not decided after 2024 so people should sit down and talk about the best solutions for everyone not just for those who enjoy all privileges, who have all the resources and look at Africa and other continents as second-class people that they have to put up with.
“It’s easy to make headlines and campaigns against racism and discrimination but what Africa wants is concrete actions and good will, not arrogant, dictatorial, and discriminatory positions while refusing to debate ideas.”
“One more month every four years. We are not asking for something unrealistic. The ones who are against the World Cup every two years are in fact egotists because they are discriminating millions of people just to protect they own commercial interests. They should support the possibility to give hope to hundreds of million of people of our continent.”
“FIFA is nowadays a democratic organisation and Europe shows us the importance of respecting the opinion of the majority in a true democratic spirit. We hope that everyone in Europe respects democracy.”
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