2017–18 Botola

The 2017–18 Botola, also known as Botola Maroc Telecom for sponsorship reasons, is the 61st season of the Premier League and the 7th under its new format of Moroccan Pro League, the top Moroccan professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1956. The season started on 8 September 2017 and ended on 21 May 2018.

Botola

Season	2017–18
Champions	IR Tanger 1st title
Relegated	Racing AC, CA Khénifra
Champions League	IR Tanger Wydad AC
Confederation Cup	HUS Agadir Raja CA RS Berkane
Matches played	240
Goals scored	545 (2.27 per match)
Top goalscorer	Mouhssine Iajour (17 goals)
Biggest home win	OC Khouribga 5–0 Racing AC (13 May 2018)
Biggest away win	OC Khouribga 0–5 Wydad AC (28 November 2017)
Highest scoring	Raja CA 4–3 OC Khouribga (14 February 2018) MA Tétouan 4–3 CA Khénifra (18 February 2018) Wydad AC 5–2 OC Khouribga (8 April 2018) AS FAR 3–4 OC Safi (14 April 2018) KAC Marrakech 2–5 DH Jadidi (28 April 2018)
Longest winning run	8 matches IR Tanger
Longest unbeaten run	23 matches Wydad AC
Longest winless run	11 matches Racing AC
Longest losing run	6 matches MA Tétouan
← 2016–17 2018–19 →

Wydad Athletic Club came into the season as defending champions of the 2016–17 season. Rapide Oued Zem and Racing de Casablanca entered as the two promoted teams from the 2016–17 GNF 2.

On May 12, 2018, IR Tanger won the Botola Pro after a 2-1 victory against Moghreb Tétouan. The IR Tanger club won the championship for the first time after being runner-up to the title in 1989-90 season.^[1]

Teams

Stadium and locations

MAT

RCA

WAC

RAC

FUS

FAR

KACM

DHJ

HUSA

RSB

CRA

OCS

OCK

CAK

IRT

RCOZ

Locations of the 2017–18 Botola teams

Team	Acronym	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Association sportive des FAR	AS FAR	Rabat	Stade Moulay Abdellah	52,000
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
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
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
Racing de Casablanca	RAC	Casablanca	Stade Père-Jégo	10,000
Raja Casablanca	RCA	Casablanca	Stade Mohamed V	67,000
Rapide Oued Zem	RCOZ	Oued Zem	Stade Municipal	3,000
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
Association sportive des FAR	Abderrazak Khairi	Uhlsport
Chabab Atlas Khénifra	Kamal Zouaghi	Bang Sports
Chabab Rif Al Hoceima	Nacer Sandjak	Bang Sports	Al Omrane, CGI
Difaâ El Jadidi	Abderrahim Talib	Bang Sports	innjoo, Radio Mars, TGCC1
FUS Rabat	Walid Regragui	Uhlsport	Emaar, Novec1, LafargeHolcim23
Hassania Agadir	Miguel Ángel Gamondi	Uhlsport	Afriquia, Skoda1, Souss-Massa2, Joly3
IR Tanger	Driss El Mrabet	Bang Sports	Renault,[2] APM Terminals, Tanger-Med1, Moroccan Airports Authority1, Valencia1, RCI Finance Maroc3
Kawkab Marrakesh	Faouzi Jamal	Puma	Poste Maroc, Sanad, CitySport, Menara Mall1
Moghreb Tétouan	Abdelouahed Benhsain	King Sports Maroc	Halib Tetaouen, Radio Mars
OC Khouribga	Bernard Simondi	Bang Sports
Olympic Safi	Mohamed Amine Benhachem	Uhlsport	Fitco
Racing de Casablanca	Youssef Rossi
Raja Casablanca	Juan Carlos Garrido	Legea	Siera, Nor'Dar, Prodec, Infinix, Hyundai1, Or Blanc1, MarsaMaroc23, Atlanta Assurances23
Rapide Oued Zem	Tarek Mostafa	Bang Sports	Boudrika Holding
RSB Berkane	Mounir Jaouani	Bang Sports	Souiri, Afriquia1
Wydad Casablanca	Faouzi Benzarti	Macron	Ingelec, Alitkane2, Koutoubia2

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
Racing de Casablanca	Abdelhak Rizkallah	Retired	20 May 2017	Youssef Rossi	14 Juin 2017
IR Tanger	Bachir Bouita	End of contract	25 May 2017	Ezzaki Badou	20 May 2017
Hassania Agadir	Francisco Javier Bernal	End of contract	26 May 2017	Miguel Ángel Gamondi	4 June 2017
Raja Casablanca	Mohamed Fakhir	Resigned	26 May 2017	Abdelhak Benchikha	7 June 2017
Chabab Rif Al Hoceima	Youssef Fertout	End of contract	26 May 2017	Juan Pedro Benali	11 July 2017
Moghreb Tétouan	Amin Erbati (interim)	End of tenure as caretaker	28 May 2017	Fouad Sahabi	3 June 2017
Raja Casablanca	Abdelhak Benchikha	Resigned	16 June 2017	Juan Carlos Garrido	20 June 2017
Moghreb Tétouan	Fouad Sahabi	Resigned	30 August 2017	Abdelhak Benchikha	5 September 2017
OC Khouribga	Azzedine Aït Djoudi	Sacked	3 October 2017	Bernard Simondi	14 October 2017
Moghreb Tétouan	Abdelhak Benchikha	Resigned	19 November 2017	Youssef Fertout	19 November 2017
IR Tanger	Ezzaki Badou	Sacked	21 November 2017	Driss El Mrabet	21 November 2017
RSB Berkane	Rachid Taoussi	Sacked	27 November 2017	Mounir Aljawani	27 November 2017
Chabab Atlas Khénifra	Samir Yaich	Contract termination	3 December 2017	Kamal Zouaghi	26 December 2017
AS FAR	Aziz El Amri	Sacked	11 December 2017	Abderrazak Khairi	13 December 2017
Wydad Casablanca	Hussein Amotta	Sacked	9 January 2018	Faouzi Benzarti	19 January 2018
Chabab Rif Al Hoceima	Juan Pedro Benali	Contract termination	31 January 2018	Nacer Sandjak	1 February 2018
Rapide Oued Zem	Mohamed Backary	Sacked	20 February 2018	Fouad Sahabi	21 February 2018
Moghreb Tétouan	Youssef Fertout	Sacked	27 February 2018	Abdelouahed Benhsain	21 February 2018
Rapide Oued Zem	Fouad Sahabi	Refused by the Federation	20 February 2018	Tarek Mostafa	20 March 2018
Kawkab Marrakesh	Youssef Meriana	Sacked	29 April 2018	Faouzi Jamal	29 April 2018

League table

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	IR Tanger (C)	30	14	10	6	34	23	+11	52	Qualification for the CAF Champions League
2	Wydad Casablanca	30	14	9	7	44	26	+18	51[a]
3	Hassania Agadir	30	13	12	5	40	22	+18	51[a]	Qualification for the CAF Confederation Cup
4	FUS Rabat	30	13	10	7	34	26	+8	49
5	Difaâ El Jadidi	30	13	9	8	49	33	+16	48[b]
6	Raja Casablanca	30	13	9	8	45	33	+12	48[b]	Qualification for the CAF Confederation Cup[c]
7	Olympic Safi	30	10	13	7	32	28	+4	43[d]
8	AS FAR	30	11	10	9	35	34	+1	43[d]
9	RSB Berkane	30	11	8	11	36	34	+2	41	Qualification for the CAF Confederation Cup[e]
10	Rapide Oued Zem	30	10	7	13	27	31	−4	37
11	Moghreb Tétouan	30	10	6	14	24	35	−11	36
12	Olympique Khouribga	30	9	8	13	37	47	−10	35
13	Chabab Rif Al Hoceima	30	7	12	11	27	31	−4	33
14	Kawkab Marrakesh	30	8	8	14	29	47	−18	32
15	Chabab Atlas Khénifra (R)	30	6	11	13	30	41	−11	29	Relegation to the Botola 2
16	Racing de Casablanca (R)	30	3	8	19	22	54	−32	17

Source: frmf.ma
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Fair-play points; 7) Play-off.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Wydad Casablanca finished ahead of Hassania Agadir on goals scored: Wydad Casablanca 44, hassania Agadir 40
2. Difaa Jadidi finished ahead of Raja Casablanca on head-to-head goal difference: Difaa Jadidi 2–1 Raja Casablanca, Raja Casablanca 3–2 Difaa Jadidi
3. Raja CA qualified for the Confederation Cup First round as the title holders, by winning the 2018 CAF Confederation Cup.
4. Olympic Safi finished ahead of AS FAR on head-to-head points: Olympic Safi 1–1 AS FAR, AS FAR 3–4 Olympic Safi
5. RS Berkane qualified for the Confederation Cup First round by winning the 2018 Moroccan Throne Cup.

Results

Home \ Away	IRT	WAC	HUSA	FUS	DHJ	RCA	OCS	FAR	RSB	RCOZ	MAT	OCK	CRA	KACM	CAK	RAC
IR Tanger	—	0–0	2–2	1–2	1–0	1–1	1–0	0–1	2–1	1–0	2–1	2–0	3–0	1–0	1–0	1–1
Wydad AC	0–1	—	1–0	1–3	2–1	1–2	0–1	3–1	2–1	3–1	0–0	5–2	1–0	4–1	3–1	0–0
HUS Agadir	1–1	1–0	—	2–1	3–1	1–0	1–0	2–2	3–0	1–0	2–1	3–0	0–0	1–1	0–0	2–1
Fath US	0–0	2–4	2–1	—	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–1	0–0	1–0	2–0	0–0	0–2	2–1	4–1	2–0
DH Jadidi	1–1	0–1	1–0	3–0	—	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–2	3–1	3–0	4–1	3–1	1–0	0–0	1–1
Raja CA	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–2	3–2	—	0–0	2–0	2–1	3–1	0–0	4–3	1–1	4–0	1–2	2–0
OC Safi	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	2–2	2–0	—	1–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	2–0	2–1	2–1	1–1	2–2
AS FAR	2–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–2	2–1	3–4	—	1–3	0–0	2–0	1–0	2–2	2–3	1–2	2–0
RS Berkane	0–3	2–1	1–1	0–1	0–0	1–0	1–0	2–3	—	0–0	1–2	1–1	2–1	3–2	2–1	4–0
RC Oued Zem	2–0	1–1	0–0	0–1	0–0	3–1	1–0	0–1	1–1	—	2–0	1–0	1–0	1–2	1–0	2–1
MA Tétouan	0–1	1–2	0–1	0–2	1–0	1–3	2–2	1–0	1–0	1–0	—	2–1	0–2	1–0	4–3	1–1
OC Khouribga	1–1	0–5	2–1	2–1	3–3	1–1	2–2	1–2	1–0	1–0	1–0	—	1–1	3–0	1–0	5–0
CR Al Hoceima	2–0	0–0	1–1	0–0	2–2	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	1–2	0–2	1–1	—	1–0	2–0	1–2
KAC Marrakesh	2–2	2–1	0–0	2–1	2–5	0–3	1–1	0–1	0–2	3–2	0–0	2–1	1–0	—	1–1	0–0
CA Khénifra	0–1	0–0	1–5	1–1	3–3	2–3	2–0	0–0	1–1	2–3	2–0	0–1	1–0	0–0	—	2–0
Racing AC	1–2	0–1	0–3	2–2	0–3	1–2	1–2	0–1	1–3	3–1	0–2	2–1	0–1	1–2	1–1	—

Updated to match(es) played on 21 May 2018. Source: Botola Pro
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

As of 20 May 2018.^[3][4]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Mouhssine Iajour	Raja CA	17
2	Mehdi Naghmi	IR Tanger	13
3	Ayoub El Kaabi	RS Berkane	12
4	Simon Msuva	DH Jadidi	11
5	Zouhair El Moutaraji	OC Khouribga	10
	Jalal Daoudi	HUS Agadir
7	Ibrahim Bezghoudi	AS FAR	9
	Mohamed Nahiri	Wydad AC
	Bilal El Megri	DH Jadidi
	Hamid Ahaddad	DH Jadidi

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Round
Hamid Ahaddad	DH Jadidi	OC Khouribga	4–1 (H)	3 December 2017	10
Mouhssine Iajour	Raja CA	OC Khouribga	4–3 (H)	14 February 2018	16
Hamza Goudali	OC Safi	AS FAR	4–3 (A)	14 April 2018	25

(H) – Home; (A) – Away

Annual awards

The UMFP (Union Marocaine des Footballeurs Professionnels), in partnership with the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, organized the Night of Stars Award in its 4th edition, which celebrated the brilliants of the Botola Pro for the 2017/18 season.^[5][6]

Award	Winner	Club
Manager of the Season	Driss El Mrabet	IR Tanger
Player of the Season	Ahmed Hammoudan	IR Tanger
Promising Player of the Season	Mahmoud Benhalib	Raja CA
Goalkeeper of the Season	Abderrahman El Houasli	HUS Agadir
Referee of the Season	Redouane Achik
Club of the Season	IR Tanger

Attendances

#	Football club	Average attendance
1	IR Tanger	23,750
2	Raja CA	19,615
3	Wydad AC	15,821
4	Hassania Agadir	11,636
5	AS FAR	10,545
6	MA Tétouan	7,836
7	Olympique Safi	7,714
8	RC Oued Zem	7,692
9	KACM	6,477
10	CA Khénifra	6,342
11	Olympique Khouribga	5,613
12	DHJ	5,064
13	Fath Union Sport	3,250
14	CRA	2,633
15	RS Berkane	2,600
16	Racing Casablanca	2,091

See also

2017 Coupe du Trône
2017–18 Botola 2
2018 CAF Champions League
2018 CAF Confederation Cup