HIBAPRESS – Sports
In an unprofessional journalistic behavior, a Tunisian journalist named Hamza El-Tayashi sparked a wave of widespread resentment in Moroccan circles, after promoting a series of misleading information about the organization of the African Cup of Nations in Morocco, through his correspondence to the program "Layali Al-Kan" which is broadcast on a Tunisian channel.
The journalist in question claimed that the Olympic Stadium in Rabat experienced a power outage, and spoke of "organizational imbalances" that preceded the Tunisia and Uganda match, and criticized the working conditions of journalists inside the media center, and their transportation conditions, in addition to the method of distributing tickets to the fans. However, these claims are untrue.
The statements of the Tunisian journalist contradicted the testimonies of a number of African and international journalists, who praised the well-organized organization, the quality of the infrastructure, and the smooth logistical services provided by the Kingdom of Morocco, whether for the participating teams or for the accredited journalists. Also, the organizing institutions did not record any incident such as a power outage or disruption of matches, which raises questions about the background of these media "correspondences".
These misleading statements sparked a huge wave of anger among Moroccans, especially on social media, where many expressed their surprise at what they described as "ingratitude", in reference to the great generosity and good reception that the Tunisian national team received, like the rest of the African teams participating in the continental celebration. A number of activists repeated the common proverb: "If you honor the generous, you own him, and if you honor the mean, he rebels," expressing their annoyance at the unjustified offense to the image of Morocco.
Observers believe that such behaviors are detrimental to the ethics of the journalistic profession, and undermine the spirit of sportsmanship that is supposed to prevail during continental and international events, calling for objectivity and reporting the facts as they are, away from exaggeration or settling scores, especially when it comes to an event the size of the African Cup of Nations, and in a country that has made great efforts to make it a success.
