The Minister of Sports in Morocco, Saad Berrada, has announced that he will open up sports fields to all people living in the neighbourhood. This is to ensure children and adolescents will be able to practise sports closer to home and even in the evenings.
In Morocco, sports fields are usually installed at educational facilities. The country has approximately 4,000 educational facilities. Many of these have been identified as a possible site for a sports field as most facilities already have sufficient space to install such a field.
The new fields will be designed specifically for the particular project. Future school facilities will be clearly separate from the field, to which floodlighting and other basic surfaces will be added to ensure the field, can also safely be used in the evening.
The announcement was part of the presentation about the new sports strategy Berrada delivered to parliament on 11 May. In this plan, sports fields are not just viewed as a space to facilitate sports but also as a space to raise children, support them and to establish social cohesion.
The government has allocated approximately EUR 46 million for the construction and improvement of sports fields.
In 2030, Morocco will be one of the hosts of the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
Massive improvement
According to the plan, this year alone 731 fields will be installed or improved. This is up from the 500 that were initially planned. Of the 731, 48 will be renovated while the construction of 30 FIFA Arena fields is also planned. Collectively, this should bring the number of sports surfaces in Morocco to 800.
The plan focuses on sports fields in the rural areas in particular. Some 636 have been identified. According to the minister, improving the fields here will bridge the gap between the cities and the rural areas.
In the past two years, the ministry also signed agreements with the cities of Casablanca and Rabat over the installation of 250 sports fields per city.
At present, 780 sports fields are under construction or actively pursued. Some 155 of those are within the perimeter of an educational facility. Once finished, clear rules about the use of and care for the facility should help to achieve their longevity.