Fouzi Lekjaa

Fouzi Lekjaa (Arabic: فوزي لقجع; born on 23 July 1970) is a Moroccan football administrator and businessman, who is the president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation since 2014, and a member of the FIFA Council since 2021. On 7 October 2021 he was appointed Minister Delegate to the Minister of Finance, responsible for the budget.[2]

Fouzi Lekjaa
Lekjaa in 2017
Born
Fouzi Lekjaa

(1970-07-22) 22 July 1970[1]
Berkane, Morocco
NationalityMoroccan
OccupationMember, FIFA Council

Biography

Fouzi Lekjaa was born in Berkane on 23 July 1970, to a middle-class family. He spent his childhood in this city where he obtained his baccalaureate before starting higher studies in Rabat. His father is a former Arabic teacher who started his career in Berkane.[3]

As he specialized in sports and a graduate in agricultural engineering from the National School of Administration, Lekjaa began his career as a financial inspector. He was appointed head of the agricultural sector and compensation division at the budget department of the finance ministry in 2000. In the same year, he took on a role in the technical staff of the RS Berkane team, an amateur club playing in the Moroccan third division. He takes part in the club's infrastructure projects and gradually builds governance, organization and professionalization of the club with the help of his financial resources.

Its improvement work allows the validation of several lawns in the Berkane region as well as the development of several amateur clubs in the best conditions. Lekjaa gained notoriety in 2009 when he became the manager of his hometown club, the Berkane Sports Renaissance. It sets up a training center based in the same city for young talents evolving in the city, but also elsewhere in Morocco.

Entry into the management of RS Berkane

In 2009, Lekjaa was appointed president of the Berkane Sports Renaissance Club.[4]

Having created financial stability within the club, several sponsors come forward. In two seasons, he managed to get his club up to Botola Pro, from which the club had been absent since 1984. RS Berkane knew in such a short time a huge margin of financial and sporting progress.

Lekjaa quickly created a bond of friendship with Ilyas El Omari, club president at Chabab Rif Al Hoceima, who also has the same background as him.

Presidency of the FRMF

Lekjaa has been the president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) since 13 April 2014, when he succeeded Ali Fassi Fihri.[5] Under his leadership, he quickly established a structure within the federation by developing 16 clubs in Moroccan D1 and 16 clubs in D2. The amateur class has a hundred clubs organized in regional league. At the level of each league, there are on average 120 clubs. The president obliges each club, of all levels, to have at least three classes of young people: the U17s, the U20s and the hopes. It modernizes and professionalizes infrastructure developments across the country.

Lekjaa is also building political will with King Mohammed VI, where the two men invest together in football projects.

In a record time of five years, they managed to launch the construction of the Mohammed VI Complex in Salé. The complex is spread over 30 hectares and houses a capacity of 480 young footballers. It has nine training rooms, a covered room, a medical clinic that covers 400 square meters. This project cost $65,000,000. It was inaugurated in 2019.

In July 2017, he had been the 2nd vice-president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).[6]

Member of the FIFA Council

In March 2021, he was elected to the FIFA Council.[1]

References
  1. FIFA.com. "FIFA Council Members - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Archived from the original on April 27, 2021. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  2. "Fouzi Lekjaa félicité par son homologue djiboutien" (in French). 9 October 2021.
  3. "Maroc : enquête sur l'inoxydable Fouzi Lekjaa – Jeune Afrique". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). 2019-09-12. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  4. MATIN, Hafsa Sakhi, LE. "Le Matin - Lekjaa remporte les élections à l'unanimité". Le Matin (in French). Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  5. "Élection de Fouzi Lekjaâ au conseil de la Fifa". Maroc hebdo. 25 March 2021.
  6. "Lekjaa elected 3rd vice-president of CAF". Le 360 Sport. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.