2016–17 Botola

The 2016–17 Botola, also known as Botola Maroc Telecom for sponsorship reasons, is the 60th season of the Premier League and the 6th under its new format of Moroccan Pro League, the top Moroccan professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1915. The fixtures were announced on 2 August 2016. The season started on 27 August 2016 and may be ended on 28 May 2017.

Botola

Season	2016–17
Champions	Wydad Casablanca 19th title
Relegated	KAC Kénitra JS de Kasbah Tadla
Champions League	Wydad Casablanca Difaâ El Jadidi
Confederation Cup	Raja Casablanca RSB Berkane
Matches played	240
Goals scored	534 (2.23 per match)
Top goalscorer	William Jebor (19 goals)
Biggest home win	DH El Jadida 6–1 JS Kasbah Tadla (21 May 2017)
Biggest away win	AS FAR 0–5 Wydad AC (23 October 2016)
Highest scoring	DH El Jadida 6–1 JS Kasbah Tadla (21 May 2017)
Longest winning run	6 matches Wydad AC
Longest unbeaten run	17 matches DH El Jadidi
Longest winless run	12 matches JS Kasbah Tadla
Longest losing run	5 matches KAC Marrakesh
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

FUS Rabat came into the season as defending champions of the 2015–16 season. Chabab Atlas Khénifra and Chabab Kasbah Tadla entered as the two promoted teams from the 2015–16 GNF 2.

Wydad Casablanca won the league for a record 19th time in Botola history after beating Olympic Safi on 17 May 2017.^[1]

Teams

Stadium and locations

MAT

RCA

WAC

FUS

FAR

KACM

DHJ

HUSA

RSB

CRA

OCS

KAC

OCK

CAK

IRT

JSKT

Locations of the 2016–17 Botola teams

Team	Acronym	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Chabab Atlas Khénifra	CAK	Khénifra	Stade Municipal	5,000
Chabab Rif Al Hoceima	CRA	Al Hoceima	Stade Mimoun Al Arsi	12,000
Difaâ El Jadidi	DHJ	El Jadida	Stade El Abdi	15,000
Association sportive des FAR	AS FAR	Rabat	Stade Moulay Abdellah	52,000
Fath Union Sport	FUS	Rabat	Stade de FUS	15,000
Hassania Agadir	HUSA	Agadir	Stade Adrar	45,480
IR Tanger	IRT	Tanger	Grand Stade de Tanger	45,000
JS de Kasbah Tadla	JSKT	Kasba Tadla	Complexe Sportif Municipal	5,000
KAC Kénitra	KAC	Kenitra	Stade Municipal (Kenitra)	15,000
Kawkab Marrakech	KACM	Marrakech	Stade de Marrakech	45,240
Moghreb Tétouan	MAT	Tétouan	Saniat Rmel	15,000
Olympic Safi	OCS	Safi	Stade El Massira	10,000
Olympique Khouribga	OCK	Khouribga	Complexe OCP	10,000
Raja Casablanca	RCA	Casablanca	Stade Mohamed V	67,000
RSB Berkane	RSB	Berkane	Stade Municipal	15,000
Wydad Casablanca	WAC	Casablanca	Stade Mohamed V	67,000

Personnel and kits

Teams	Managers	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Chabab Atlas Khénifra	Samir Yaich	Bang Sports
Chabab Rif Al Hoceima	Youssef Fertout	Bang Sports	Al Omrane, CGI
Difaâ El Jadidi	Abderrahim Talib	Bang Sports	Alitkane, innjoo, Radio Mars, TGCC1
Association sportive des FAR	Aziz El Amri	Uhlsport
FUS Rabat	Walid Regragui	Uhlsport	Emaar, Novec1, LafargeHolcim23
Hassania Agadir	Francisco Javier Bernal	Uhlsport	Afriquia, Skoda1, Souss-Massa2, Joly3
IR Tanger	Bachir Bouita	Bang Sports	University of New England, APM Terminals[2]
JS de Kasbah Tadla	Abderrazak Khairi	Legea	Syron
KAC Kénitra	Hassan Ajenoui
Kawkab Marrakesh	Youssef Meriana	Puma	Poste Maroc, Sanad, CitySport, Menara Mall1
Moghreb Tétouan	Amin Erbati (interim)	King Sports Maroc	Halib Tetaouen, Radio Mars
OC Khouribga	Azzedine Aït Djoudi	Bang Sports
Olympic Safi	Mohamed Amine Benhachem	Uhlsport	Fitco
Raja Casablanca	Mohamed Fakhir	Adidas	Siera, Nor'Dar, CitySport, Hyundai1, MarsaMaroc23, Atlanta Assurances23
RSB Berkane	Rachid Taoussi	Bang Sports
Wydad Casablanca	Hussein Amotta	Adidas	Ingelec

1. ^ On the back of shirt.

2. ^ On the sleeves.

3. ^ On the shorts.

• Maroc Telecom is a sponsor for all the league's teams.
• Additionally, referee kits are made by Adidas.

Managerial changes

Teams	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
KAC Kénitra	Samir Yaich	Sacked	3 June 2016	Jamal Faouzi	17 July 2016
RSB Berkane	Bertrand Marchand	End of contract	1 July 2016	Miloud Hamdi	14 July 2016
Chabab Rif Al Hoceima	Fouad Sahabi	End of contract	22 July 2016	Dominique Bijotat	22 July 2016
Raja Casablanca	Rachid Taoussi	Sacked	7 August 2016	Mohamed Fakhir	9 August 2016
RSB Berkane	Miloud Hamdi	Contract termination	27 August 2016	Rachid Taoussi	31 August 2016
Wydad Casablanca	John Toshack	Sacked	16 September 2016	Sébastien Desabre	20 September 2016
KAC Kénitra	Jamal Faouzi	Resigned	17 September 2016	Jean-Guy Wallemme	21 September 2016
Kawkab Marrakesh	Hassan Benabicha	Contract termination	27 September 2016	Fouad Sahabi	28 September 2016
Chabab Atlas Khénifra	Mohamed Bouthir	Sacked	28 September 2016	Samir Yaich	28 September 2016
Association sportive des FAR	Abdelmalek El Aziz	Sacked	24 October 2016	Aziz El Amri	24 October 2016
Chabab Rif Al Hoceima	Dominique Bijotat	Resigned	3 November 2016	Said Zekri (interim)	15 November 2016
OC Khouribga	Youssef El Mrini	Resigned	8 November 2016	Azzedine Aït Djoudi	14 November 2016
Olympic Safi	Hicham Dmii	Contract termination	19 November 2016	Mohamed Amine Benhachem	25 November 2016
KAC Kénitra	Jean-Guy Wallemme	Sacked	23 November 2016	Youssef El Mrini	23 November 2016
Chabab Rif Al Hoceima	Said Zekri (interim)	End of tenure as caretaker	15 December 2016	Mohamed Lahcen Ahmed	15 December 2016
Kawkab Marrakesh	Fouad Sahabi	Sacked	25 December 2016	Ahmed Bahja	27 December 2016
Wydad Casablanca	Sébastien Desabre	Sacked	6 January 2017	Hussein Amotta	6 January 2017
Chabab Rif Al Hoceima	Mohamed Lahcen Ahmed	Sacked	8 January 2017	Youssef Fertout	8 January 2016
KAC Kénitra	Youssef El Mrini	Sacked	10 February 2017	Hassan Ajenoui	19 February 2017
JS de Kasbah Tadla	Hicham Eladrissi	Sacked	26 February 2017	Abderrazak Khairi	7 March 2017
Hassania Agadir	Abdelhadi Sektioui	Resigned	3 April 2017	Abdelkbir Meziane (interim)	5 April 2017
IR Tanger	Abdelhak Benchikha	Contract termination	16 April 2017	Mohamed Sabek (interim)	16 April 2017
Hassania Agadir	Abdelkbir Meziane (interim)	End of tenure as caretaker	26 April 2017	Francisco Javier Bernal	26 April 2017
Kawkab Marrakesh	Ahmed Bahja	Sacked	29 April 2017	Youssef Meriana	1 May 2017
IR Tanger	Mohamed Sabek (interim)	End of tenure as caretaker	30 April 2017	Bachir Bouita	3 May 2017
Moghreb Tétouan	Sergio Lobera	Sacked	1 May 2017	Amin Erbati (interim)	1 May 2017

Results

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Wydad Casablanca (C)	30	19	9	2	50	24	+26	66	Qualification to the CAF Champions League
2	Difaâ El Jadidi	30	16	11	3	45	23	+22	59
3	Raja Casablanca	30	15	12	3	42	17	+25	57	Qualification to the CAF Confederation Cup
4	RS Berkane	30	14	9	7	30	16	+14	51
5	IR Tanger	30	12	9	9	33	25	+8	45
6	AS FAR	30	11	11	8	42	39	+3	44
7	FUS Rabat	30	11	7	12	32	32	0	40	invited to the Arab Club Champions Cup[a]
8	Hassania Agadir	30	10	8	12	32	40	−8	38
9	Olympic Safi	30	10	6	14	25	32	−7	36
10	Chabab Atlas Khénifra	30	7	13	10	25	24	+1	34
11	Olympique Khouribga	30	10	4	16	34	40	−6	34
12	Moghreb Tétouan	30	9	7	14	30	37	−7	34
13	Kawkab Marrakesh	30	9	6	15	36	42	−6	33
14	Chabab Rif Al Hoceima	30	8	7	15	26	46	−20	31
15	JS de Kasbah Tadla (R)	30	7	7	16	25	47	−22	28	Relegation to Botola 2
16	KAC Kénitra (R)	30	5	8	17	27	50	−23	23

Updated to match(es) played on 13 June 2017. Source: scoresway.com^[3]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Wydad Casablanca and Raja Casablanca are also invited to the Arab Club Champions Cup.

Result table

Home \ Away	WAC	DHJ	RCA	RSB	IRT	FAR	FUS	HUSA	OCS	CAK	OCK	MAT	KACM	CRA	JSKT	KAC
Wydad		1–1	1–0	1–0	2–2	1–1	1–2	2–0	1–1	3–1	4–1	2–1	2–3	2–1	1–0	1–0
Difaâ El Jadidi	0–0		0–0	0–0	4–1	2–1	1–0	3–0	1–1	2–1	3–0	1–0	1–0	3–1	6–1	0–0
Raja	0–0	4–1		1–1	0–1	1–1	2–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–1	4–0	2–1	2–1	3–0	4–0
RS Berkane	1–1	1–1	1–1		0–0	0–2	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–1	2–0	1–0	3–0	3–0	3–0	3–0
IR Tanger	0–1	4–1	1–2	0–0		2–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	0–1	0–2	4–1	2–1	1–0
AS FAR	0–5	2–4	1–1	0–1	0–0		2–1	2–0	2–0	1–0	4–2	2–2	1–2	4–1	2–2	2–1
FUS Rabat	1–2	1–0	2–2	1–0	1–0	1–1		1–2	1–0	2–0	1–3	1–1	3–2	2–0	2–1	1–0
Hassania Agadir	1–1	0–1	2–2	1–2	0–4	1–1	2–1		3–2	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–0	3–1	2–1	3–2
OC Safi	1–2	1–2	0–0	0–1	1–2	1–1	1–0	1–0		1–0	1–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	2–1
CA Khénifra	1–1	2–2	1–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–3	2–1	1–0		1–0	0–0	3–0	3–0	0–0	4–0
OC Khouribga	2–3	0–0	0–0	0–1	2–1	1–2	1–0	1–1	4–0	1–0		4–1	0–4	1–1	0–1	3–1
Moghreb Tétouan	0–1	0–2	0–1	1–0	0–1	3–1	1–1	0–1	1–0	0–0	1–0		1–2	2–1	4–0	4–1
Kawkab Marrakech	2–3	0–0	0–0	1–2	2–1	1–2	1–0	1–1	0–1	2–1	1–2	2–2		1–2	1–0	1–1
CR Hoceima	1–2	0–1	1–2	1–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	1–4	2–1	1–0		2–1	0–0
JS Kasbah Tadla	0–2	0–0	0–2	2–0	1–1	2–1	1–0	2–1	1–3	1–1	1–0	0–1	3–2	1–1		0–0
KAC Kénitra	0–1	1–2	0–2	1–0	0–2	1–2	2–2	2–2	2–1	1–1	2–1	3–0	1–1	1–2	3–2

Updated to match(es) played on 13 June 2017. Source: Botola Pro
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

As of 13 June 2017.^[4][5]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	William Jebor	Wydad Casablanca	19
2	Mohammed El Fakih	Kawkab Marrakech	14
	Jalal Daoudi	Hassania Agadir
4	Walid Azaro	Difaâ El Jadidi	12
5	Amin Tighazoui	Olympique Khouribga	10
	Zaid Krouch	Moghreb Tétouan
7	Issam Erraki	Raja Casablanca	9
	Ngombe Mbengue	Olympique Khouribga
9	Karim El Berkaoui	Hassania Agadir	8
	Mohamed Kamal	AS FAR
	Fabrice Ondama	Wydad Casablanca
	Zakaria Hadraf	Difaâ El Jadidi

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Round
Zakaria Hadraf	Difaa El Jadidi	IR Tanger	4-1 (H)	4 February 2017	16
Mustapha El Yousfi	AS FAR	Olympique Khouribga	4-2 (H)	5 March 2017	20

(H) – Home; (A) – Away

Annual awards

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation, in coordination with the LNFP ( Ligue Nationale du Football Professionnel) and the UMFP (Union Marocaine des Footballeurs Professionnels), organized on Monday 3 July 2017 the 3rd edition of the "Stars' Night" in honor of the players, coaches and referees who were distinguished during the 2016/2017 season.^[6][7]

Award	Winner	Club
Manager of the Season	Hussein Amotta	Wydad AC
Player of the Season	Mohamed Ounajem	Wydad AC
Promising Player of the Season	Ahmed Hammoudan	IR Tanger
Goalkeeper of the Season	Anas Zniti	Raja CA
Foreign Player of the Season	Mohamed Konate	RS Berkane
Referee of the Season	Redouane Jiyed
Club of the Season	Wydad AC

See also

• 2016 Coupe du Trône
• 2016–17 GNF 2
• 2017 CAF Champions League
• 2017 CAF Confederation Cup
• 2017 Arab Club Championship