Court Rejects Munir El-Haddadi’s Appeal To Play For Morocco

The Court of Arbitration For Sport (CAS) has rejected Munir El-Haddadi and the Moroccan Football Federation’s appeal against FIFA’s ruling, denying the player the chance to join the Atlas Lions squad in the World Cup.

El-Haddadi along with the Moroccan Football Federation filed an appeal to the CAS hoping the player would switch national allegiances from Spain and join Morocco’s troops prior to the World Cup.

However, FIFA and the Spanish Football Federation won the case, as the request of the former Barcelona forward has been denied by the CAS Panel after a hearing in Lausanne.

The 22-year-old has only featured once for the Spanish national team back in 2014 when he was part of Barcelona’s squad. In the past two seasons, El-Haddadi has been loaned to Valencia and Deportivo Alavés.

The player has been directly involved in 20 goals in all competitions for Alavés this season better than any Moroccan striker.