Wydad Athletic Club (WAC) has appointed Abdelmajeed Barnaki, First Deputy of WAC, as the interim president to oversee the club’s affairs in the wake of the recent developments involving the arrest of Said Naciri, the club’s former president.
This decision was made during a board meeting on Monday, at the club’s headquarters in the Mohamed Benjelloun complex, Casablanca.
The meeting, which was attended by executive leadership and other football department representatives, was called in order to ensure the seamless functioning of the club in light of the drama.
Wydad officials–having already anticipated this situation—announced the formation of a temporary committee that will manage the club.
Naciri, who is also suspended from his PAM membership, is part of a broader legal scope, which centers around Hadj Ahmed Ben Ibrahim, a.k.a. the “Malian Drug Baron,” and even more notoriously, the “Escobar of the Sahara.” Ben Ibrahim was arrested in 2019 for having played a significant role in international drug trafficking with connections to Latin America and West Africa.
The Casablanca Court of Appeals Public Prosecutor’s Office ordered the arrest of 23 individuals–including Naciri and Eastern Regional Council President Abdenabi Bioui–for drug trafficking, money laundering, and abuse of power.
The suspects were dispatched to the Oukacha jail. The list of individuals arrested includes a staggeringly vast array of VIPs: politicians, sports officials, law enforcement personnel, notaries, and a fashion designer.
The judicial end result of the scandal–with its far-reaching implications–hopes to underscore the equality of all citizens under the law.