On December 14, 2023, on this same page, I wrote an article titled, “Whither Nigeria as Morocco, Saudi host World Cup”. This is the opening paragraph of the article:
“There is a sense in which we can claim that Morocco’s bid to co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup with Portugal and Spain and Saudi Arabia’s 2034 have been remarkable for the Arab world and Africa. This opportunity presents numerous lessons for both regions, highlighting the importance of strategic partnerships, infrastructure development, and sports diplomacy. This is where Nigeria’s duty bearers who are so obsessed with politics, which often takes a lot of steam from their governance and fundamental objectives of state policies…”a
I hope Nigerian football federation officials who are managing the Nigerian players inside Morocco and those watching the AFCON 2025 at home or while holidaying in Europe and North America are paying attention to fine details of the football festival. And here is why they should learn: The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is far more than just another football tournament in Morocco. It’s doubtless the culmination of decades of hard work, a long-term strategy that has paid off as the country becomes one of the top destinations for major international sport and cultural events. Our leaders need to freeze politics and frivolous lifestyles at this time – and see what Morocco are doing with sport as a tool of development.
And here is the thing, the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 is proving to be more than a sporting spectacle for Morocco, with projected economic benefits reaching 12 billion dirhams (about $1.2 billion), the tournament is acting as a powerful engine for growth, as Moroccan media has noted.
Between 600,000 and one million visitors have joined the host cities, driving unprecedented demand for hotels, restaurants, transport, and local businesses, Moroccan magazine Challenge reported.
Our leaders in Nigeria who aren’t interested in investment in sports facilities should note that in Morocco, years of investment in stadium upgrades, transport networks, and urban facilities are now bearing fruit.
These improvements, designed for long-term impact, aim to position Morocco as a leading destination for major international events. Besides, National carrier Royal Air Maroc is transporting at least 500,000 supporters, generating an estimated 1.5 billion dirhams in additional revenue.The airline has increased flights to qualified nations and reinforced links with European cities hosting large African diaspora, consolidating its role as a key connector between Africa and the world.
What is more valuable, the tournament has created thousands of jobs in security, logistics, hospitality, and media. Fan zones across cities foster social inclusion and national unity, turning AFCON 2025 into a cultural celebration as well as an economic catalyst.
According to a sport analyst, Farah Ben Gamra, beyond the numbers, Morocco is leveraging the event as a ‘soft power tool. Its ability to deliver secure, world-class logistics under global scrutiny strengthens its credibility ahead of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which it will co-host with Spain and Portugal. CAN 2025 thus confirms Morocco’s ambition to become Africa’s premier hub for sports, tourism, and investment.
And so by linking up sports, diplomacy, building infrastructure, and running the country with an eye to the big picture, Morocco is leveraging football as a tool of soft power, a way of gaining influence and increasing geopolitical credibility.
Morocco’s preparations for the 2025 AFCON show a level of organisational maturity rarely seen before in African football. From stadium to transport systems, digital infrastructure, security, and even broadcasting, the kingdom is bringing its A-game.
There is, therefore, a sense in which one can claim that Morocco is today genuinely in the same league as major European countries when it comes to staging big international events. What sets it apart isn’t only the ambition, but it’s actually the execution of that ambition through its governance system.
So it is Morocco’s years of steady investment that have created a whole system that can bring off big events smoothly and on time. Not just a one-off effort for the sake of one tournament but a lasting change in the way the country works, with the added goal of helping Morocco and Africa punch above its current commercial weight on the global stage.
‘AFCON is vision-driven’
“The Kingdom has been investing in modern stadiums and urban infrastructure for many years, not because of the AFCON, but as part of a broader national development strategy,” says Omar Khyari, an adviser to the Royal Moroccan Federation of Football president FouziLekjaa. “The country did not wait for AFCON or the World Cup to transform itself.”In Khyari’s words, Morocco’s existing national assets are real evidence of a forward-thinking approach to long-term development. Supporting and guiding this forward-looking approach is the “long-term vision of His Majesty King Mohammed VI,” Khyari explained, stressing that Morocco now has a lot to show. Al Boraq, Africa’s only high-speed train, makes it really easy to hop between major Moroccan cities. It also poured significant investments into airports, highways, and tourism infrastructure.
Not only that, there’s the massive ongoing project building the Grand Stade Hassan II near Casablanca, which, when finished, is going to be the world’s biggest football stadium with an incredible capacity of 115,000 seats.
“These achievements demonstrate that Morocco’s readiness is not event-driven but vision-driven,” Khyari explains, so AFCON “is therefore part of a broader continuum, not a starting point.”
AFCON 2025’s data
According to reports, AFCON 2025 is breaking records across finance, attendance, logistics, and media, which is totally redefining what’s considered “normal” for the tournament.
Revenue & Sponsorship
Total projected revenue: $192.6 million
Sponsorship: $126.16 million (66% of total revenue), more than double the $54.25 million sponsorship in AFCON 2021
Ticketing: $19 million
Broadcast: $46.47 million, including a record-breaking 20 deals across 30 European territories
Team Logistics
All 24 teams have dedicated 5-star hotel-based camps with advanced training and medical facilities provided
Prize Money
Total prize fund: $32 million USD: a 43% increase over previous editions
AFCON 2025 winner: $10 million USD (Cameroon 2021 received 5 million USD, marking a staggering 100% increase over four years).
Broadcast & Media Reach
First AFCON to broadcast all 52 matches free-to-air in the UK
Advanced broadcast technology used for every match: 4K HDR, drones, spidercams
17 apparel brands supplying 24 teams, with Puma kitting out five teams
Widest global broadcast reach ever, with the opening match shown in over 180 territories.
These numbers are the ultimate proof that Morocco is delivering the tournament at a scale and standard unmatched in the continent’s history. In fact, CAF’s Secretary General has hailed the tournament as the “best ever.”
Learning from global models
Other countries have long recognised that sports have strategic value beyond just spectacle or short-term profits. These massive events are national investments in diplomacy, commerce, and soft power. More importantly, perhaps, they are platforms to project influence, foster collaboration, and generate long-term economic and social benefits. As such, they help build the kind of global influence and social impact that lasts long after the trophy is lifted.
At a recent sports diplomacy conference in Ottawa, Canadian officials explained just how the federal programmes are helping out cities and national sports bodies to land the rights to host some of the world’s biggest sporting events. Some fairly rigorous requirements have to be met as part of this support, including detailed assessments of how an event will impact the host country’s economy and long-term plans for the legacy of the event long after it has ended. All of these requirements are designed to ensure that hosting an event is more than just a nice symbolic trophy on the shelf: it actually brings some real, tangible benefits to the country.
The other day, one of the world’s most influential footballers, Kylian Mbappe and his colleague in Real Madrid, Aurelien Tchouameni, were in Marrakech, Morocco to watch Cameroon play Ivory Coast in the AFCON 2025. Their support was due to Mbappe’s Cameroonian heritage with his colleague also having roots in the country. They were there because the country is secure and Morocco have world-class hotels and football facilities where Real Madrid have been training. Whither Nigeria!
Morocco’s strategy is not about competing against the rest of the continent but about elevating it. By hosting AFCON at this level, Morocco is changing the way that African sporting events are viewed on the world stage. This will help establish confidence in Africa’s organisational capabilities and prove that long-term planning, institutional strength, and political commitment can result in world-class events.
The ripple effect will extend further than Morocco. Other African countries now have a clear benchmark for what Morocco’s operational excellence looks like and can be inspired by it. In this sense, AFCON 2025 is as much about reputation and power as it is about football.
Besides, Morocco is already looking ahead to some even bigger opportunities like co-hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2030. Looking even further ahead into the future, the infrastructure, experience, and organisational systems could suggest that Morocco could one day play host to the first-ever Olympic Games on the African continent.
Soft power through capability and continuity
Gamra is also clear-headed on this: Around the world, countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and China have recently shown exactly how sports can be used to transform remarkably a nation’s position on the world map. Morocco’s approach is similar but it also a bit different. The kingdom is indeed the first African country to ever build a state-level strategy around sports. Gradually—and strategically—it is turning sports into a continuous engine for growth and diplomacy. And it is making sure the world keeps its eyes on Morocco for years to come.Morocco’s whole soft power strategy is less about grand gestures and more concrete and about the discipline of getting things done. It focuses on being reliable and building serious credibility. The kingdom is essentially boosting its lasting influence by consistently pushing for high standards.
Beyond sporting prestige, this targeted influence also speaks volumes about Morocco’s larger geopolitical ambitions. Hosting “the best AFCON ever” now and the jointly organized FIFA World Cup in 2030, the kingdom is positioning itself as a bridge between Africa, Europe, and the rest of the world.
AFCON 2025 isn’t some trial run to see how everything plays out; it’s a pretty straightforward statement. What Morocco is really saying is that African countries no longer have to just dream of competing on the world stage. Many of them are already flying high on the global scene in a wide range of areas, and others lagging behind can take inspiration from their high-achieving fellow African countries to make sure the continent keeps projecting itself and living as one of the main characters of the emerging global story, rather than a supporting cast or an aspirant.
Why can’t our leaders in Nigeria look up to the hills in Morocco, which incidentally remain the best ranked African football team and No.14 in the world, following their perfect AFCON and World Cup qualifying campaign where Nigeria struggled with poor infrastructure and wobbly leadership in sports administration. Nigeria couldn’t qualify for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, which is reproachful. I hope Nigerian sport leaders will return from Morocco 2025 with lots of lessons of fidelity in football administration.
