From World Cup Euphoria to Street Disorder: The Makhzen’s Playbook – BY Maamar Gani
An Unethical Lesson in Blackmail and Ingratitude: How the Makhzen Exploited World Cup Fever and Entrapped the Moroccan Diaspora in Spreading Disorder Across the Netherlands
By Maamar Gani
It has become increasingly evident to any serious observer of public affairs that the scenes unfolding in the streets of Dutch and other European cities following every “victory” by the Moroccan national football team are far more than isolated episodes of public disorder. Rather, they constitute the direct by-product of an emotional engineering strategy systematically cultivated by the Moroccan Makhzen. The transformation of moments of sporting celebration into widespread unrest, vandalism, and attacks on public and private property reflects a political culture in which football is instrumentalized as a vehicle of state messaging rather than allowed to remain a purely sporting endeavour.
The Moroccan national team has, in this context, become an instrument of political projection, with sporting achievements increasingly embedded within broader narratives designed to reinforce state legitimacy and mobilize nationalist sentiment well beyond Morocco’s borders.
The Makhzen has long relied on emotional mobilisation as a central component of its political doctrine. Through carefully cultivated narratives and highly charged nationalist rhetoric, it seeks to inflame collective emotions not merely to consolidate domestic support but also to export this emotional tension abroad. When collective euphoria is orchestrated and sustained through populist discourse, it risks becoming a volatile force capable of erupting in the streets of European cities, where celebrations rapidly descend into scenes of violence and destruction.
This carefully cultivated emotional climate fosters deep social polarization by equating national identity with unconditional loyalty to the political establishment. As a result, segments of the Moroccan diaspora in Europe are maintained in a state of permanent emotional mobilisation. In such circumstances, public gatherings following football victories often become less an expression of sporting joy than an outlet for accumulated political frustration shaped by official narratives, with little regard for the consequences imposed on the security and social cohesion of host societies.
Particularly troubling is the manner in which members of the Moroccan diaspora—many of whom were born and raised within democratic European societies and have benefited from their legal protections and civil liberties—are transformed into instruments of this disorder. Through media influence and wider communication networks, the Makhzen is cultivating this emotional mobilisation, turning sections of the diaspora into instruments of political pressure and, effectively, a form of security and social leverage against European states.
Rather than encouraging successful integration into their host societies, this approach is portrayed as perpetuating a climate of permanent tension that ultimately serves political objectives in Rabat, even when it comes at the expense of public order in the very countries that have welcomed successive generations of Moroccan immigrants.
The repeated outbreaks of vandalism, looting and attacks on public property in Dutch cities should no longer be dismissed as spontaneous celebrations. They constitute criminal acts fuelled by an atmosphere of politically charged emotional mobilisation. In this reading, political responsibility rests primarily with the Moroccan state apparatus, which is exploiting this collective fervour while showing little concern for the long-term social consequences borne by Moroccan communities abroad.
Such a strategy, whereby every sporting success risks becoming a public security challenge in European cities, is evidence of profound political and moral bankruptcy. Instead of promoting genuine national progress, the authorities have chosen to manipulate popular emotions and channel youthful enthusiasm into spectacles of confrontation that ultimately damage Morocco’s image and the standing of its diaspora.
The broader lesson is that citizenship cannot be built upon destruction, nor can responsible governance be sustained through emotional manipulation. Genuine civic responsibility in Europe is founded upon respect for the rule of law, constructive participation, and honest contribution to society—not upon disorder committed under the banner of patriotism.
The firm response adopted by the Dutch authorities, ultimately, reaffirmed a fundamental democratic principle: public security remains non-negotiable, the rule of law applies equally to all, and no degree of externally fuelled emotional mobilisation can supersede the sovereignty of the state or the protection of public order.
— 𝐄𝐍𝐃 —
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