Moroccans in Qatar seek World Cup tickets, excitement builds at home

RABAT/DOHA: Moroccan fans in Qatar for their team's World Cup semi final against France on Wednesday (Dec 14) were struggling to find tickets, while excitement built back home even as some were left stranded when extra flights to Doha were scrapped.

Morocco's soccer success, the best World Cup run by a team from Africa or the Arab world, has been cheered from Baghdad to Bamako during the first World Cup hosted by an Arab state, with wins notched up against top European sides, like Spain and Portugal.

Thousands of Moroccans have flown into Doha, many from Morocco and others from the diaspora in the Gulf and beyond, helping fill stadiums with national colours of red and green.

Arab and African supporters have swelled their ranks, as Morocco prepares to play against France, a two-times World Cup winner, Morocco's former coloniser and home to many Moroccans.

At other Morocco matches, ticketless fans crowded outside the stadium, sometimes blocking the entrance for others and sparking scuffles with police and other fans.

Moroccans arriving overnight on extra flights said they had expected to get tickets on arrival, but with hours to go they still did not know if they would get them.

"Ninety-five percent of people on the plane didn't have a ticket," said Mohammed, a Moroccan fan outside Al Janoub stadium in Qatar, where he waited for the match with his wife and three children.

Mohammed Amzil, 30 and Mehdi Gandouze, 25, both Moroccans living in Doha, queued all night outside the stadium and said any free tickets they saw handed out were given to women.

"We spent the night here and the end of the day and we didn't get anything," Amzil said, adding that he had seen sporadic fights between some of those waiting.

Some were left frustrated