Zakaria Abouklal played a great tournament for Morocco at the World Cup in Qatar, scoring one goal against Belgium in a 2:0 victory, but he also found himself in an uncomfortable situation.
The Moroccan portal “Ahkayen” accused him of being a Salafist, that is, a member of the hard Islamic wing that is gaining momentum.
Members of this movement are considered Islamic radicals in the Islamic religion.
“Abuklal is a Salafist infiltrator in the Moroccan national team,” was the portal’s headline.
Journalists wrote that Zakaria aims to attract as many Moroccan fans as possible to Salafism.
“It is a big lie and we will file a lawsuit against the media that published such a lie,” replied the Moroccan football federation.
They believe that he wants to throw a black mark on the success of Morocco, a selection that finished the World Cup in fourth place, which is a historic success for both them and Africa.
Abouklal is one of the many Moroccan national team players who was born outside the country.
He is 22 years old and was born in Groningen, and even played for the youth categories of the Netherlands, but then decided to play for Morocco as a senior.