Organising the Africa Cup of Nations or a World Cup implies building infrastructures and a national narrative. But rather than material symbols, Moroccan youth expects more equity, transparency and social justice.
(This article was initially published in French in La Libre Belgique on November 5, 2025.)
STADIUMS OR HOSPITALS? MOROCCAN YOUTH DENOUNCES A DISCONNECTION FROM REALITY
“The stadiums are there, but where are the hospitals?” This slogan, chanted during demonstrations by Moroccan youth since the end of September in several cities of the kingdom, denounces the government’s priorities and calls for greater social justice. As Morocco prepares to host the Africa Cup of Nations in 2025 (from 21 December 2025 to 18 January 2026) and to co-organise the World Cup in 2030, more than 5 billion dollars (4.2 billion euros) will be invested, while urban youth unemployment reaches nearly 50 percent, according to data from the High Commission for Planning. For Morocco’s Generation Z (aged 15 to 30), these infrastructures symbolise unfulfilled promises and a disconnection from social priorities. The lack of resources for hospitals sums up, in their eyes, the scale of the gap.
INTERNATIONAL PRESTIGE VERSUS SOCIAL DIVIDE
Morocco is not the first country to face social tensions ahead of a major sporting event. In Brazil, in 2014, demonstrators chanted “We want hospitals meeting FIFA standards” to denounce World Cup spending. In South Africa, in 2010, new stadiums were built without the promised social transformation. In Morocco, the protests reveal the same contradiction. Where the government presents the 2030 World Cup as a showcase of national pride and modernisation, youth sees it as evidence of a stark disconnect between political priorities and everyday struggles.
The protesters do not reject football itself, but the imbalance in the allocation of public resources. In every country, mega-events are built as showcases of prestige and modernity. This logic raises questions: who benefits from them? And what legacies do they leave behind? Organising a World Cup means building infrastructures and a national story. Football becomes the sign of a stable, strong, and forward-looking nation. Today, younger generations question this equation between new stadiums and progress. Their expectations are no longer nourished by material symbols, but by equity, transparency, and social justice.
A DIFFERENT MODEL
For twenty years, sporting mega-events have relied on a well-rehearsed rhetoric. They promise an increase in tourism, GDP growth, and international visibility. This language of soft power has shaped the sports policies of emerging countries such as Qatar, Russia, or China. That model has now reached its limits. Designed to bring people together, these mega-events increasingly reveal the social failures of the host country. Some newly built stadiums end up underused, costly to maintain, and without lasting benefits for local residents.
The slogan “stadiums not hospitals” expresses a clear tension. On one side, the desire to shine abroad for international recognition. On the other, the urgency to invest at home for dignity and social justice. This opposition tells the story of a fracture between two visions of progress. Mega-events are still conceived as diplomatic instruments before being social projects. Decision-makers see them as levers of influence and visibility, while civil society expects fairness, participation, and trust.
RETHINKING SUCCESS
Faced with this reality, sports institutions are forced to redefine their framework of action so as not to deepen social divides. The legitimacy of a tournament now depends on its ability to meet the expectations of the population. Recent mobilisations remind us of this demand and raise a question: what does it mean today to successfully host a major sporting event?
For a long time, success was defined by logistical performance and media visibility. Stadiums delivered on time, full stands, millions of viewers. Designed from above, these indicators say little about citizens’ experience. Measuring the success of a mega-event now requires involving civil society and focusing on the production of meaning rather than the pursuit of prestige. Because if success depends only on stadiums and screens, it will inevitably face the resistance of those it claims to unite.
A central question remains: what place for young people? They rarely take part in decisions that concern them. Youth embodies a promise of the future without having the means to participate in it. They seek tangible meaning in these major events. For Moroccan youth, priorities remain stable employment, dignified access to education and health care, and a real place in society. The gap between expectations and the means to meet them keeps widening.
Football institutions and their competitions can become levers for social transformation when they build on local dynamics. Football now stands at a crossroads. It can either accelerate improvements in living conditions or reveal the fractures it claims to overcome.
A FIRST TEST WITH AFCON 2025
The question raised by Moroccan youth goes beyond national borders and challenges a model inherited from a time when international recognition was enough to define a country’s success. This model no longer meets today’s expectations. Youth imposes a new measure of legitimacy, pushing the state, federations, and tournaments to confront their ability to reflect the population’s real aspirations.
The protests reveal what attendance or growth figures cannot show. The flow of tourists leaving immediately after says nothing about daily life, full stands say nothing about disenchantment. Between the political project and social experience, the gap widens. Football occupies a singular place in this space. It shapes narratives, connects identities, carries collective hopes. It cannot be reduced to a travelling spectacle nor escape the society it moves through.
In less than a hundred days, the Africa Cup of Nations will open in Rabat. This event will lay the foundations for the road to the 2030 World Cup. Morocco will be tested on its ability to turn a showcase into a social project. The question now is whether these competitions will be experienced as moments of shared pride or as a mirror of social imbalance.
