Botola

Botola
Country	Morocco
Confederation	CAF
Founded	1956
Number of teams	16
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Botola 2
Domestic cup(s)	Coupe du Trône Moroccan Super Cup
International cup(s)	Champions League Confederation Cup
Current champions	FUS Rabat (2015–16)
Most championships	Wydad Casablanca (18 titles)
TV partners	Al Aoula, Arryadiya, 2M TV, BeIN Sports
2016–17 Botola

The Botola (Arabic:البطولة), literally "the Moroccan Championship" (known as Botola Maroc Telecom for sponsorship reasons) is a Moroccan professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Moroccan football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Football League.

The Premier League is a corporation in which the 16 member clubs act as shareholders. Seasons run from August to May, with teams playing 30 matches each (playing each team in the league twice, home and away) totalling 214 matches in the season. Most games are played in the afternoons of Saturdays and Sundays, the other games during weekday evenings. It is sponsored by Maroc Télécom and thus known as the Botola-Ittisalat. Outside England, it is commonly referred to as the Moroccan Premier League (MPL).

The competition formed as the FRFM on 20 February 1992 following the decision of clubs in the Botola Pro to break away from the UNAF, which had been founded in 1911, and take advantage of a lucrative television rights deal. This deal is worth MAD 55 million a year domestically as of 2015–16, with Arryadia securing the domestic rights to broadcast games respectively. The league generates MAD 123 million per year in domestic and international television rights.

The Botola Pro is the most-watched football league in Africa, broadcasts in 153 territories to 54 million homes and a potential TV audience of 2 billion people. In the 2010–11 season, the average Botola Pro match attendance was 25,363, the highest of any professional football league in Africa, and stadium occupancy was 92% capacity. The Premier League ranked second in the CAF 5-Zaers of leagues based on performances in African competitions over the last five years.

Of the 16 clubs to have competed since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, five have won the title: Wydad Casablanca (13), Association Sportive des FAR (12), Raja de Casablanca (11), Magreb Fez (4) and Hašania Agadir (2). The current champions are Wydad Casablanca, who won the title in 2014–15.

On June 5th, FUS Rabat won the football championship for the first time after being runner-up to the title for 5 previous times.^[1]

History

The first edition of the Moroccan Football League under the FRMF took place in 1956–57, soon after Morocco became an independent country.

Competition

Each year 16 teams compete for the championship. The two lowest-placed teams are relegated to Botola Elite 2 and the top two teams from Botola Elite 2 are promoted in their place to Botola Pro.

Champion and runner-up participate in the African Champions League. The third-place team and Coupe du Trône winner qualify to participate in the African Confederation Cup.

Sponsorship

Since 2000, Maroc Telecom is the official sponsor of the Botola for a 15 million dirham/year contract.

Broadcasting rights

On September 2007, the SNRT Group (Al Aoula, 2M TV and Arryadia) paid 225 millions dirhams for the rights to broadcast the following three seasons of the Botola.^[2]

Throughout the week, every game played in the Botola is broadcast live by at least one TV channel.

BeIN Sports network also broadcasts a few matches every week.

Clubs

The most popular Moroccan clubs are Association Sportive des FAR, Raja Casablanca, Wydad Casablanca. Other historically established sides include Kawkab Marrakech, KAC Kenitra , Moghreb Tétouan and Hassania Agadir.

Stadiums

Current stadiums

Casablanca	Rabat	Marrakech	Agadir
Stade Mohamed V	Stade Moulay Abdellah	Stade de Marrakech	Stade Adrar
Capacity: 67,000	Capacity: 65,000	Capacity: 45,000	Capacity: 45,000

Fes	Tanger	Oujda	El Aaiún
Fez Stadium	Stade de Tanger	Honneur Stadium	Stade Cheikh Laaghdef
Capacity: 45,000	Capacity: 45,000	Capacity: 35,000	Capacity: 30,000

Meknes	Kénitra	Al Hoceima	Tétouan
Stade d'Honneur	Stade Municipal de Kénitra	Stade Mimoun Al Arsi	Stade Saniat Rmel
Capacity: 20,000	Capacity: 15,000	Capacity: 12,000	Capacity: 12,000

Safi	El Jadida	Berkane	Khouribga
Stade El Massira	Stade El Abdi	Stade Municipal De Berkane	Complexe sportif du Phosphate
Capacity: 15,000	Capacity: 10,000	Capacity: 10,000	Capacity: 10,000

List of champions

Season	Champion	Runner-up
1956-57	Wydad Casablanca	Kawkab Marrakech
1957-58	Kawkab Marrakech	Wydad Casablanca
1958-59	Étoile de Casablanca	Wydad Casablanca
1959-60	KAC Kenitra	FAR Rabat
1960-61	FAR Rabat	Maghreb Fez
1961-62	FAR Rabat	Racing de Casablanca
1962-63	FAR Rabat	Kawkab Marrakech
1963-64	FAR Rabat	Stade Marocain
1964-65	Maghreb Fez	Racing de Casablanca
1965-66	Wydad Casablanca	Raja Casablanca
1966-67	FAR Rabat	Renaissance de Settat
1967-68	FAR Rabat	Renaissance de Settat
1968-69	Wydad Casablanca	Maghreb Fez
1969-70	FAR Rabat	Union Sidi Kacem
1970-71	Renaissance de Settat	FAR Rabat
1971-72	Racing de Casablanca	Wydad Casablanca
1972-73	KAC Kenitra	FUS Rabat
1973-74	Raja de Beni Mellal	FUS Rabat
1974-75	Mouloudia Oujda	Maghreb Fez
1975-76	Wydad Casablanca	Difaa El Jadida
1976-77	Wydad Casablanca	Mouloudia Oujda
1977-78	Wydad Casablanca	Maghreb Fez
1978-79	Maghreb Fez	KAC Kenitra
1979-80	Chabab Mohammédia	Wydad Casablanca
1980-81	KAC Kenitra	FUS Rabat
1981-82	KAC Kenitra	Wydad Casablanca
1982-83	Maghreb Fez	Renaissance de Berkane
1983-84	FAR Rabat	Olympique Khouribga
1984-85	Maghreb Fez	KAC Kenitra
1985-86	Wydad Casablanca	Raja Casablanca
1986-87	FAR Rabat	Kawkab Marrakech
1987-88	Raja Casablanca	Kawkab Marrakech
1988-89	FAR Rabat	Maghreb Fez
1989-90	Wydad Casablanca	IR Tanger
1990-91	Wydad Casablanca	FAR Rabat
1991-92	Kawkab Marrakech	Raja Casablanca
1992-93	Wydad Casablanca	Raja Casablanca
1993-94	Olympique de Casablanca	Wydad Casablanca
1994-95	CODM de Meknès	Olympique de Casablanca
1995-96	Raja Casablanca	Olympique Khouribga
1996-97	Raja Casablanca	Wydad Casablanca
1997-98	Raja Casablanca	Kawkab Marrakech
1998-99	Raja Casablanca	Kawkab Marrakech
1999-00	Raja Casablanca	Wydad Casablanca
2000-01	Raja Casablanca	FUS Rabat
2001-02	Hassania Agadir	Wydad Casablanca
2002–03	Hassania Agadir	Raja Casablanca
2003–04	Raja Casablanca	FAR Rabat
2004–05	FAR Rabat	Raja Casablanca
2005–06	Wydad Casablanca	FAR Rabat
2006–07	Olympique Khouribga	FAR Rabat
2007–08	FAR Rabat	IZK Khemisset
2008–09	Raja Casablanca	Difaa El Jadida
2009–10	Wydad Casablanca	Raja Casablanca
2010–11	Raja Casablanca	Maghreb Fez
2011–12	Moghreb Tétouan	FUS Rabat
2012–13	Raja Casablanca	FAR Rabat
2013–14	Moghreb Tétouan	Raja Casablanca
2014-15	Wydad Casablanca	Olympique Khouribga
2015-16	FUS Rabat	Wydad Casablanca

Performances

Performance by club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning Seasons
Wydad Casablanca	13	10	1956–57, 1965–66, 1968–69, 1974-75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1985–86, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1992–93, 2005–06, 2009–10, 2014-15
FAR Rabat	12	7	1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1983–84, 1986–87, 1988–89, 2004–05, 2007–08
Raja Casablanca	11	5	1987–88, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13
Maghreb Fez	4	7	1964–65, 1978–79, 1982–83, 1984–85
KAC Kenitra	4	2	1959–60, 1972–73, 1980–81, 1981–82
Stade Marocain	3	0	1927-28, 1930-31, 1944-45
Kawkab Marrakech	2	6	1957–58, 1991–92
Moghreb Tétouan	2	–	2011–12, 2013–14
Hassania Agadir	2	–	2001–02, 2002–03
FUS Rabat	1	5	2015–16
Olympique Khouribga	1	3	2006–07
Racing de Casablanca	1	2	1971–72
Renaissance de Settat	1	2	1970–71
Olympique de Casablanca	1	1	1993–94
Mouloudia Oujda	1	1	1974–75
CODM de Meknès	1	–	1994–95
Chabab Mohammédia	1	–	1979–80
Raja de Beni Mellal	1	–	1973–74
Étoile de Casablanca	1	–	1958–59

Top scorers

Season	Player	Team	Goals
1966–67	Abdelatif Chiadmi	Difaa El Jadida	18
1967–68	Hassan Chicha	Difaa El Jadida	19
1968–69	Ahmed Faras	Chabab Mohammédia	16
1972–73	Ahmed Faras	Chabab Mohammédia	16
1974–75	Hassan Chicha	Difaa El Jadida	12
1976–77	Mohamed Boussati	KAC Kenitra	17
1979–80	Idris Ouadich	Association sportive des FAR	15
1980–81	Mohamed Boussati	KAC Kenitra	17
1981–82	Mohamed Boussati	KAC Kenitra	25
1982–83	Abdeslam Laghrissi	Association Sportive des FAR	14
1983–84	Mjidou Tmimi	Wydad Casablanca Mouloudia d'Oujda	11
1984–85	Boushaba	Renaissance Berkane	13
1985–86	Hassan Nader Mohammed Chaouch	Wydad Casablanca Kawkab Marrakech	13
1986–87	Abderrazak Khairi	Association Sportive des FAR	12
1987–88	Lahcen Anaflous	Association Sportive des FAR	17
1988–89	Hassan Nader	Wydad Casablanca	18
1989–90	Abdeslam Laghrissi	Association Sportive des FAR	22
1990–91	Lahcen Anaflous	Association Sportive des FAR	15
1991–92	Lahcen Anaflous	Association Sportive des FAR	11
1992–93	Youssef Fertout	Wydad Casablanca	18
1993–94	Ahmed Bahja	Kawkab Marrakech	14
1994–95	Abdeslam Laghrissi	Association Sportive des FAR	15
1995–96	Soufir	Jeunesse El Massira	16
1996–97	Anane	AS Salé	17
1997–98	Rachid Rokki	Chabab Mohammédia	15
1998–99	Zouine	Olympique Khouribga	16
1999–00	Mustapha Bidoudane	FUS Rabat	17
2000–01	Samir Sarsar	Kawkab Marrakech	12
2001–02	Omar Zaouit	Tihad Sportif Casablanca	14
2002–03	Mustapha Bidoudane	Raja Casablanca	14
2003–04	Mustapha Bidoudane	Raja Casablanca	13
2004–05	Mohamed Armoumen	Association Sportive des FAR	12
2005–06	Mamadou Ba Camara	Olympique Khouribga	9
2006–07	Jawad Ouaddouch	Association Sportive des FAR	12
2007–08	Abderrazak Lamnasfi	Association Sportive des FAR	13
2008–09	Mustapha Allaoui	Association Sportive des FAR	14
2009–10	Omar Hassi	Widad Fez	12
2010–11	Jawad Ouaddouch	Association Sportive des FAR	11
2011–12	Karl Max Barthelemy	Difaa El Jadida	17
2012–13	Abderazak Hamdallah	Olympic Safi	15
2013–14	Zouhaur Naim Zoumana Kone	Moghreb Tétouan Hassania Agadir	11
2014–15	Malick Evouna	Wydad Casablanca	16
2015–16	Mahdi Naghmi	Association Sportive des FAR	12

References

↑ "LE FUS DE RABAT CHAMPION POUR LA PREMIÈRE FOIS".
↑ La SNRT décroche les droits TV du GNF Archived July 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. www.lavieeco.com

External links

2016–17 Botola

Hassania Agadir Difaa El Jadida FAR Rabat Chabab Atlas Khénifra KAC Kenitra Chabab Rif Al Hoceima Olympique Khouribga IR Tanger Nahdat Berkane JS de Kasbah Tadla FUS de Rabat Raja Casablanca Olympic Safi Kawkab Marrakech Moghreb Tétouan Wydad Casablanca

Botola seasons

1956–57
1957–58
1958–59
1959–60
1960–61
1961–62
1962–63
1963–64
1964–65
1965–66
1966–67
1967–68
1968–69
1969–70
1970–71
1971–72
1972–73
1973–74
1974–75
1975–76
1976–77
1977–78
1978–79
1979–80
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87
1987–88
1988–89
1989–90
1990–91
1991–92
1992–93
1993–94
1994–95
1995–96
1996–97
1997–98
1998–99
1999–2000
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
2003–04
2004–05
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17

Football in Morocco

National Association
GNF

National teams

Men	National team Olympic (U-23) U-20 U-17

Women	National team U-20 U-17

League system

Men	Botola Botola 2 GNFA 1 (2 groups) GNFA 2 (4 groups)

Women	Women Division 1

Domestic cups

Men	Coupe du Trône Moroccan Super Cup

Women	Women Coupe du Trône

Awards

Footballer of the Year
Top scorers

Lists

All-time Table
Champions
Clubs
International footballers
Foreign players
Venues

Men's clubs
Women's clubs
Men's players
Women's players
Expatriate players
Managers
Referees
Venues
Seasons
Records

Top level football leagues of Africa (CAF)

Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Congo Congo DR Côte d'Ivoire Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Réunion Island^† Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zanzibar^† Zimbabwe

^† Associated members

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