Raja Club Athletic

Full name Raja Club Athletic of Casablanca

Nickname(s) Vox Populi, Green Eagles, Green Devils, Raja Mondial
Founded 28 March 1949
Ground Stade Mohamed V
Casablanca, Morocco
(Capacity: 67 000)
Chairman Abdeslam Hanat
Manager Mohamed Fakhir
League Botola
Home colors Away colors Third colors
Raja Club Athletic or Raja (transliterated: ar-Raja' ar-Riyady ) (Raja meaning 'hope' in
Arabic) is a sports club with sections in many different disciplines in Casablanca,
Morocco. Raja was founded on March, 28th 1949 as part of the political struggle against
French rule by nationalists who aimed to create a focus for working-class young
Moroccans. The club is most well-known outside Morocco for its football team.
In Morocco, Raja Casablanca is still regarded as the club of the people. For many years it
had a reputation of playing entertaining football without winning many trophies.
However Raja has evolved recently into a more professional outfit capable of winning
trophies at home and abroad. It has become the most powerful club in Morocco.
Raja Casablanca, who has been crowned domestic champions on nine occasions, was
placed in 2000 third in CAF's ranking of African clubs of the last century, finishing
behind the Egyptian teams Al Ahly and Zamalek SC
Raja Casablanca is the only Moroccan club, and the first African and Arabic team to
participate in the World Club Cup. They competed in the first edition that took place in
2000 in Brazil.
Raja has the largest number of supporters in Morocco. During the 2008-2009 season, the
ultras of the club wrote, in capital letters, the tifo "VOX POPULI" (meaning 'voice of the
people' in Latin).
Raja Casablanca was founded in 1949 by the Moroccan resistance and the leaders of
Moroccan trade unions, including the first head of the union (Moroccan Labour Union),
Mahjoub Ben Seddik and former president of the Arab Lawyers Union and former Prime
Minister, the late Master Mohamed Maati Bouabid, in addition to Boujemaa Kadri who
handled the organization of all the paperwork necessary for creation. In addition to the
core, there were other personalities behind the founding of Raja, including Tibari, Salah
Medkouri, Chemseddine, Karim Hajjaj, Ssi Haddaoui Ahmed Skalli, Choukri, Daoudi,
Hachmi Nejjar, Charfaoui, Laachfoubi, Abdelkader Jalal, and Naoui in addition to some
other Moroccan intellectuals.
They met with the late Hmidou El Watani, the owner of the cafe Al Watan, located in
Derb Sultan.
Père Jégo
Raja in the season 1959-60 with Pere Jego.Consistently associated with the history of
Raja was Père Jégo - known as the godfather and spiritual father of Raja. Contrary to
popular belief, Père Jégo was not the founder of the team. The Greens have existed since
1949, seven years before his arrival at the club. But he did, however, help shape the
identity of the club, helping it become what it is today.
Then he taught at WAC European style, made of rigor and efficiency, Père Jégo change
to Raja. It is modeled after the South American football, which he discovered during his
recent travels. A football resolutely turned towards the show, that showcases the technical
skills, rather an athlete or tactics. A duly reasoned choice: , then he professed.
Choice of the name After several attempts to find a name worthy of a team that will
represent the Moroccan people, officials were left with two fitting names left on the table,
Raja and Fath. Raja was chosen after winning three successive votes.
Beginning:
Tifo celebrating the 60th anniversary of the club.The club joined the Moroccan league
from the foundation of it by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation in 1956. The
prohibition of entrusting the presidency to a Moroccan will quickly be circumvented by
leaving this chair for six months, Ben Abadja Hejja, a Muslim of Algerian descent and
who benefited from this fact of French nationality. The French authorities taken aback by
this scheme were forced to accept the accomplished fact.
So in 1949 Raja, composed exclusively of Moroccan players, started its first year in the
Division of Honor. It moved to the second division in its first season and reached the first
division in 1951 and was therefore the first team to integrate the Moroccan first division
after matches dams. Since then, the club has been considered an elite Moroccan football
team.
The first coach of the club was Kassimi Kacem and Raja was known to be very
successful under his leadership. Along with Boujemaa Kadri, a peerless leader, the two
would distinguish themselves by working methodically and colossal administratively and
organizationally. This duo would survive all the ups and downs of the club's history and
establish the reputation of Raja in many areas.
Style:
The eagle, the official mascot of Raja Since its inception, Raja has always had a
reputation of being a team of artists playing enjoyably and having fun. Pere Jego has
instilled a collective game, specific, based on short passes, the one-two, the offensive and
individual achievement, hence the label Raja lfraja "(Raja of the show). With this system,
Raja frightened their opponents and they were able to humiliate the biggest clubs with a
spectacular game marked by small bridges as well as combinations of high level without
worrying about the score. The team did not win a national title until 1974 with its first cut
of the throne and in 1988 with its first victory in the championship followed by a
Champions League in 1989, without counting the championship title refused to Raja in
the 1959-1960 season
Their style of play led to Raja gaining the support and encouragement of 40,000
Brazilians at the Murumbi stadium in São Paulo, during its historic performance in the
Club World Cup in 2000 in its game against Real Madrid of Vicente Del Bosque.[4] This
appearance on the world circuit had attracted the attention of many football experts. Just
after the competition, the team received an invitation from the Juventus FC in Marcelo
Lippi to play a preparation match at Palermo.
The colors and logo The color green was chosen by the founders of the club because it
symbolizes hope and growth. Green is also considered the traditional color of Islam
starting from citing its prophet in a hadith that reports that it refers to water, greenery and
a beautiful face as the three universally good things.[5] On top of that, green is on of the
colors on the Moroccan flag.
The eagle, meanwhile, in a period marked by the colonization of the country and the
resistance, accounted for founding the strong raptor, prestigious and combative.
Skit of the club in the 1990s. It is the most famous in the history of the team.
The golden era of 90'sDuring this period, the greens won a great amount of national and
continental titles. The team won the championship six times in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,
2000 and 2001, which remains an unbeatable record. Plus, they won a moroccan cup in
1996, and four continental titles (2 CAF Champions League in 1997 and 1999, Afro-
Asian Cup in 1998, and CAF Super Cup in 2000).
Appearances on the international curcuitRaja Casablanca is the only Moroccoan club, and
the first African and Arabic team to participate in the World Club Cup. They competed in
the first edition that took place in 2000 in Brazil. A competition that allowed them to
confront some of the great football teams from around the world, such as Real Madrid CF
from Spain and SC Corinthians from Brazil.
Infrastructure[edit] Mohamed V StadiumThe Mohamed V Stadium is part of a large
sports complex in the heart of the city of Casablanca, specifically in upscale
neighborhood of Maarif. It was inaugurated on 6, and today has a capacity of 67,000
spectators, not counting the North and South turns that have no seats, but where
environments are warmer. The south turn or "Magana" (the clock in Moroccan dialect)
ended up moving the main groups Raja Casablanca fans. In 2007, the stadium was
equipped with a semi-artificial turf which is acceptable under international standards. As
well, the seats in the stands, the sanitary facilities and athletics track were all replaced.
Schools and sport facilitiesThe school of Raja is among the best schools in Africa, and
has always produced great players who have played for Raja as well as the Moroccan
national team. Some notable players include Abdelmajid Dolmy, El Mustapha Haddaoui,
Abdellatif Beggar, Houmane Jarir, Petchou, Mustapha Moustawdaa, Salaheddine Bassir,
Mustapha Chadili, Jamal Sellami, Hicham Aboucherouane, Soufiane Alloudi, Merouane
Zemmama, Talal El Karkouri, and Youssef Safri.
Sports facilities available to Raja Casablanca:
Raja Oasis Sports Complex: Raja Oasis Sports Centre is where Raja Casablanca trains. It
houses the club's training facility which includes three football fields, a gym, a boarding
school for the training center, a restaurant group ...[6]
Complex Tessema
Stage Roches Noires
TrophiesCAF Champions League: 3
1989, 1997, 1999
Runner-up : 2002
Moroccan League: (9 Times)
1988, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2009
Runner-up : 1960; 1966; 1986; 1991; 1993; 2003; 2005; 2010
Moroccan Cup: (6 Times)
1974, 1977, 1982, 1996, 2002, 2005
Runner-up : 1965; 1968; 1983; 1992
CAF Cup: 1
2003
CAF Super Cup: 1
2000
Runner-up :1997
Afro-Asian Club Championship: 1
1999
Arab Champions League: 1
2006
Runner-up : 1996
Abha Cup: 1
2004
Runner-up : 2001
Arab Summer Cup: 1
2007
Antifi Cup: 1
2009
Runner-up : 2010
1959-1960 season controversy The final standings of the 1959-1960 season showed that 3
teams were tied for first in terms of total points: Raja Casablanca, FAR Rabat and KAC
Kenitra. Undoubtedly, the best goal difference was that of Raja Casablanca, which should
have granted them the win, as per the FIFA official rules and regulations. However, a
triangular tournament was imposed and Raja refused to take part in protest against the
fact that they did in fact have the better goal difference, and therefore, logically and
legally, the title should be awarded to them. Due to their protest, KAC Kenitra was
pronounced the winner after their match against FAR Rabat ended with a 1-0 win.
Despite the people's opinion that the title should have been awarded to Raja Casablanca,
the decision stood and Raja remained without the title until their win in 1974.
Many believe that the call for a triangular tournament was
politically motivated. After only three years of independence, there was political
instability in the country. The Army team of Morocco, the FAR Rabat (Royal Armed
Forces), had been founded in 1958 and some politicians wanted them to win their first
title that year. However, they lost the tournament and the title was awarded to KAC
Kenitra.