HIBAPRESS – Abdellatif Baraka
As the clock approaches the date of the much-anticipated final match, tomorrow, Sunday, which will bring together the Moroccan national team and its Senegalese counterpart, the national scene is experiencing an unprecedented football fever. A fever that did not differentiate between a simple citizen or an elected official, as the search for a ticket to enter the stadium turned into a collective obsession, its title is passion and love for the “Lions”.
From Moroccans inside and outside the country, only a few were able to obtain a ticket, after it quickly sold out from the official platform and its prices in the black market reached shocking levels of up to 6,000 dirhams. A scene that brought the ticket issue back to the forefront, but in return revealed a funny and humane image of officials who the public has become accustomed to seeing in decision-making positions. Parliamentarians, in turn, found themselves in the midst of this momentum, where a number of them entered a difficult search, even for one ticket, to follow the final from the stands. Some of them did not stop at their personal desire, but were bombarded with calls from their party supporters, family members and relatives, hoping for a "ticket to salvation" to the stadium, but the answer was one: nothing. In a situation that is not without humor, one of the parliamentarians coming from the south recounts how he found himself surrounded by a torrent of calls, before he settled the matter with a frank and concise answer: "If I found one ticket, I would be the first to enter the stadium to follow the final". An expression that summarized the size of the embarrassment that a number of the nation's deputies experienced, as they discovered that the passion for football equates everyone. The ticket crisis put many in an embarrassing situation, after the allocated seats were exhausted, and a large number of the audience were unable to access the platform or obtain a ticket. Nevertheless, the dream did not go out, as the screens of homes, cafes, and public squares prepared by the authorities remain, gathering spaces for Moroccans who chose to live the moment of the final with their hearts before their eyes. In the end, whether from inside the stands or from behind the screens, everyone meets on one wish: that the cup be for the "Atlas Lions", and that this football story be crowned with national joy shared by all… without a ticket.
