Botola

Botola

File:BotolaProInwi.png
Founded	1956
Country	Morocco
Confederation	CAF
Number of teams	16
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Botola 2
Domestic cup(s)	Coupe du Trône
International cup(s)	Champions League Confederation Cup
Current champions	Raja Casablanca (12th title) (2019–20)
Most championships	Wydad Casablanca (20)
TV partners	Al Aoula, Arryadiya
Current: 2020–21 Botola

The Botola Pro (Arabic: البطولة الإحترافية, Berber: ⴱⵓⵜⵓⵍⴰ ⴱⵔⵓ), is a Moroccan professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Moroccan football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Football League. It is regarded as one of the best football leagues in the world, the world's 17th strongest national football league in the world (2020) according to IFFHS as well as the best national football league in Africa.

From 2015 to 2019, the league was called Botola Maroc Telecom for sponsorship reasons.

The Botola Pro is a corporation in which the 16 member clubs act as shareholders, Seasons run from August to May, with teams playing 30 matches each (playing each team in the league twice, home and away) totalling 214 matches in the season. Most games are played in the afternoons of Saturdays and Sundays, the other games during weekday evenings. It is sponsored by Inwi and thus known as the Botola Pro Inwi.

The competition formed as the FRFM on 20 February 1992 following the decision of clubs in the Botola Pro to break away from the UNAF, which had been founded in 1911, and take advantage of a lucrative television rights deal. This deal is worth 55 million MAD a year domestically as of 2015–16, with Arryadia securing the domestic rights to broadcast games respectively. The league generates 123 million MAD per year in domestic and international television rights.

The Botola Pro is the most-watched football league in Africa, broadcasts in 153 territories to 54 million homes and a potential TV audience of 2 billion people. In the 2010–11 season, the average Botola Pro match attendance was 25,363, the highest of any professional football league in Africa, and stadium occupancy was 92% capacity. The Botola Pro ranked first in the CAF 5-Year Ranking of leagues based on performances in African competitions over the last five years.

The current champions are Raja Club Athletic, who won the title in 2019–20.

History

Botola trophy

The first edition of the Moroccan Football League under the Royal Moroccan Football Federation took place in 1956–57, soon after Morocco became an independent country.

Competition

Each year 16 teams compete for the championship. The two lowest-placed teams are relegated to Botola Elite 2 and the top two teams from Botola Elite 2 are promoted in their place to Botola Pro.

Champion and runner-up participate in the African Champions League. The third-place team and Coupe du Trône winner qualify to participate in the African Confederation Cup.

Sponsorship

Since 2000, Maroc Telecom has been the official sponsor of the Botola for a 15 million dirham per year contract.

Broadcasting rights

In September 2007, the SNRT Group (Al Aoula, 2M TV and Arryadia) paid 225 million dirhams for the rights to broadcast the following three seasons of the Botola.

Throughout the week, every game played in the Botola is broadcast live by at least one TV channel.

BeIN Sports network also broadcasts a few matches every week.

Clubs

The most popular Moroccan clubs are Wydad Casablanca, AS FAR, and Raja Casablanca. Other historically established sides include CODM Meknes, KAC Kenitra, Maghreb Fès, Moghreb Tétouan, Fath Rabat, and Kawkab Marrakech.

Stadiums

Current stadiums

Casablanca	Rabat	Agadir	Tanger
Stade Mohamed V	Stade Moulay Abdellah	Stade Adrar	Stade de Tanger
Capacity: 67,000	Capacity: 53,000	Capacity: 45,000	Capacity: 45,000
			|
Fes	Oujda	El Jadida	Tétouan
Fez Stadium	Honneur Stadium	Stade El Abdi	Stade Saniat Rmel
Capacity: 45,000	Capacity: 35,000	Capacity: 15,000	Capacity: 15,000
Safi	Berkane	Rabat	Berrechid
Stade El Massira	Stade Municipal de Berkane	Stade Moulay Hassan	Stade Municipal de Berrechid
Capacity: 15,000	Capacity: 15,000	Capacity: 12,000	Capacity: 10,000
	File:Stade Municipal Berkane.jpg

Other stadiums

Marrakech	El Aaiún	Meknes	Kénitra
Stade de Marrakech	Stade Cheikh Laaghdef	Stade d'Honneur	Stade Municipal de Kénitra
Capacity: 45,000	Capacity: 30,000	Capacity: 20,000	Capacity: 15,000
Al Hoceima	Khouribga
Stade Mimoun Al Arsi	Complexe OCP
Capacity: 12,000	Capacity: 10,000

List of champions

Season	Champion	Runner-up
1956–57	Wydad Casablanca	Kawkab Marrakech
1957–58	Kawkab Marrakech	Wydad Casablanca
1958–59	Étoile de Casablanca	Wydad Casablanca
1959–60	KAC Kenitra	AS FAR
1960–61	AS FAR	Maghreb Fez
1961–62	AS FAR	Racing de Casablanca
1962–63	AS FAR	Kawkab Marrakech
1963–64	AS FAR	Stade Marocain
1964–65	Maghreb Fez	Racing de Casablanca
1965–66	Wydad Casablanca	Raja Casablanca
1966–67	AS FAR	Renaissance de Settat
1967–68	AS FAR	Renaissance de Settat
1968–69	Wydad Casablanca	Maghreb Fez
1969–70	AS FAR	Union Sidi Kacem
1970–71	Renaissance de Settat	AS FAR
1971–72	Racing de Casablanca	Wydad Casablanca
1972–73	KAC Kenitra	FUS Rabat
1973–74	Raja de Beni Mellal	Raja Casablanca
1974–75	Mouloudia Oujda	Maghreb Fez
1975–76	Wydad Casablanca	Difaa El Jadida
1976–77	Wydad Casablanca	Mouloudia Oujda
1977–78	Wydad Casablanca	Maghreb Fez
1978–79	Maghreb Fez	KAC Kenitra
1979–80	Chabab Mohammédia	Wydad Casablanca
1980–81	KAC Kenitra	FUS Rabat
1981–82	KAC Kenitra	Wydad Casablanca
1982–83	Maghreb Fez	Renaissance de Berkane
1983–84	AS FAR	Olympique Khouribga
1984–85	Maghreb Fez	KAC Kenitra
1985–86	Wydad Casablanca	Raja Casablanca
1986–87	AS FAR	Kawkab Marrakech
1987–88	Raja Casablanca	Kawkab Marrakech
1988–89	AS FAR	Maghreb Fez
1989–90	Wydad Casablanca	IR Tanger
1990–91	Wydad Casablanca	AS FAR
1991–92	Kawkab Marrakech	Raja Casablanca
1992–93	Wydad Casablanca	Raja Casablanca
1993–94	Olympique de Casablanca	Wydad Casablanca
1994–95	CODM de Meknès	Olympique de Casablanca
1995–96	Raja Casablanca	Olympique Khouribga
1996–97	Raja Casablanca	Wydad Casablanca
1997–98	Raja Casablanca	Kawkab Marrakech
1998–99	Raja Casablanca	Kawkab Marrakech
1999–00	Raja Casablanca	Wydad Casablanca
2000–01	Raja Casablanca	FUS Rabat
2001–02	Hassania Agadir	Wydad Casablanca
2002–03	Hassania Agadir	Raja Casablanca
2003–04	Raja Casablanca	AS FAR
2004–05	AS FAR	Raja Casablanca
2005–06	Wydad Casablanca	AS FAR
2006–07	Olympique Khouribga	AS FAR
2007–08	AS FAR	IZK Khemisset
2008–09	Raja Casablanca	Difaa El Jadida
2009–10	Wydad Casablanca	Raja Casablanca
2010–11	Raja Casablanca	Maghreb Fez
2011–12	Moghreb Tétouan	FUS Rabat
2012–13	Raja Casablanca	AS FAR
2013–14	Moghreb Tétouan	Raja Casablanca
2014–15	Wydad Casablanca	Olympique Khouribga
2015–16	FUS Rabat	Wydad Casablanca
2016–17	Wydad Casablanca	Difaa El Jadida
2017–18	IR Tanger	Wydad Casablanca
2018–19	Wydad Casablanca	Raja Casablanca
2019–20	Raja Casablanca	Wydad Casablanca

Performances

Performance by club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning Seasons
Wydad Casablanca⭐⭐	20	12	[1947–48, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1954–55,] 1956–57, 1965–66, 1968–69, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1985–86, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1992–93, 2005–06, 2009–10, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2018–19
AS FAR⭐	12	7	1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1983–84, 1986–87, 1988–89, 2004–05, 2007–08
Raja Casablanca⭐	12	10	1987–88, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2019-20
Maghreb Fez	4	7	1964–65, 1978–79, 1982–83, 1984–85
KAC Kenitra	4	2	1959–60, 1972–73, 1980–81, 1981–82
Kawkab Marrakech	2	6	1957–58, 1991–92
Moghreb Tétouan	2	–	2011–12, 2013–14
Hassania Agadir	2	1	2001–02, 2002–03
FUS Rabat	1	5	2015–16
Olympique Khouribga	1	3	2006–07
Racing de Casablanca	1	2	1971–72
Renaissance de Settat	1	2	1970–71
IR Tanger	1	1	2017–18
Olympique de Casablanca	1	1	1993–94
Mouloudia Oujda	1	1	1974–75
CODM de Meknès	1	–	1994–95
Chabab Mohammédia	1	–	1979–80
Raja de Beni Mellal	1	–	1973–74
Étoile de Casablanca	1	–	1958–59

Performance comparison since 2011

Performance comparison of top teams since 2011.

Teams	11–12	12–13	13–14	14–15	15–16	16–17	17–18	18–19	19–20
WAC	3	4	6	1	2	1	2	1	2
RCA	4	1	2	8	5	3	6	2	1
FUS	2	6	3	5	1	7	4	9	4
MAT	1	5	1	4	6	12	11	13	7
DHJ	5	9	5	7	13	2	5	8	11
IRT	-	-	-	-	3	5	1	5	14
MAS	6	3	14	10	16	-	-	-	-
FAR	7	2	7	11	4	6	8	14	6
HUSA	12	10	8	6	8	8	3	3	8
RSB	-	7	9	9	7	4	9	7	3
League champions   Champions League   Confederation Cup   Arab Championship   Relegation

All-time Botola Pro table (since 2011)

The all-time Botola Pro table is an overall record of all match results, points, and goals of every team that has played in Botola Pro since its new format inception in 2011. The table is accurate as of the end of the 2019–20 season. Teams in bold are part of the 2020–21 Botola season.

All-time Botola Pro table

Pos	Team	S	Pts	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	T	Debut	Since/ Last App	Best
1	Wydad AC	9	492	270	135	87	48	381	217	+164	3	3	1	1	–	8	2011–12	2011–12	1
2	Raja CA	9	477	270	131	84	55	401	236	+165	2	2	1	1	1	7	2011–12	2011–12	1
3	Fath US	9	425	270	111	92	67	298	226	+72	1	1	1	2	1	6	2011–12	2011–12	1
4	MA Tétouan	9	397	270	104	85	81	300	269	+31	2	–	–	1	1	4	2011–12	2011–12	1
5	AS FAR	9	388	270	97	97	76	321	277	+44	–	1	–	1	–	2	2011–12	2011–12	2
6	DH Jadida	9	383	270	95	97	78	295	247	+48	–	1	–	–	3	4	2011–12	2011–12	2
7	HUS Agadir	9	356	270	88	94	88	304	314	−10	–	–	2	–	–	2	2011–12	2011–12	3
8	RS Berkane	8	342	240	80	102	58	238	203	+35	–	–	1	1	–	2	2012–13	2012–13	3
9	OC Safi	9	329	270	78	95	97	260	315	−55	–	–	–	1	–	1	2011–12	2011–12	4
10	OC Khouribga	9	319	270	79	84	107	262	319	−57	–	1	–	–	–	1	2011–12	2019–20	2
11	CR Al Hoceima	8	265	240	64	72	104	215	295	−80	–	–	–	–	–	–	2011–12	2018–19	8
12	KAC Marrakech	6	220	180	55	55	70	183	204	−21	–	–	1	1	–	2	2013–14	2018–19	3
13	IR Tanger	5	219	150	56	51	43	150	137	+13	1	–	1	–	2	4	2015–16	2015–16	1
14	Maghreb AS	5	185	150	41	62	47	156	155	+1	–	–	1	–	–	1	2011–12	2015–16	3
15	Kenitra AC	6	185	180	41	62	77	151	222	−71	–	–	–	–	–	–	2011–12	2016–17	11
16	MC Oujda	3	112	90	27	31	32	92	107	−15	–	–	–	–	1	1	2015–16	2018–19	5
17	RC Oued Zem	3	110	90	26	32	32	85	92	−7	–	–	–	–	–	–	2017–18	2017–18	9
18	CA Khénifra	3	95	90	21	32	37	78	102	−24	–	–	–	–	–	–	2014–15	2017–18	10
19	WA Fes	3	89	90	19	32	39	77	112	−35	–	–	–	–	–	–	2011–12	2013–14	11
20	CAY Berrechid	2	75	60	20	15	25	69	81	−12	–	–	–	–	–	–	2018–19	2018–19	6
21	COD Meknès	2	60	60	15	16	29	44	66	−22	–	–	–	–	–	–	2011–12	2012–13	10
22	IZ Khemisset	2	51	60	10	21	29	38	72	−34	–	–	–	–	–	–	2011–12	2014–15	16
23	R Beni Mellal	2	36	60	5	21	34	35	84	−49	–	–	–	–	–	–	2012–13	2019–20	16
24	RCA Zemamra	1	34	30	8	10	12	40	41	−1	–	–	–	–	–	–	2019–20	2019–20	12
25	AS Sale	1	29	30	6	11	13	25	33	−8	–	–	–	–	–	–	2013–14	2013–14	15
26	JS Massira	1	28	30	7	7	16	24	42	−18	–	–	–	–	–	–	2011–12	2011–12	15
27	JS Kasbah Tadla	1	28	30	7	7	16	25	47	−22	–	–	–	–	–	–	2016–17	2016–17	15
28	Racing AC	1	17	30	3	8	19	22	54	−32	–	–	–	–	–	–	2017–18	2017–18	16
29	SCC Mohammédia	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

Top scorers

Season	Player	Team	Goals
1956-57	Abdelkarim Zidani	KAC Marrakech	18
1957-58	Mohamed Chtaini Fejjar	Difaâ El Jadida	22
1958-59	Mohamed Khalfi	Wydad Casablanca	21
1959-60	Moussa Hanoune	Raja Casablanca	22
1960-61	Harchaoui	Étoile de Casablanca	19
1961-62	M'jidou Abdelkarim Zidani Harchaoui	Chabab Mohammédia KAC Marrakech Étoile de Casablanca	13
1962-63	Kébir Mezzour	FUS Rabat	17
1963-64	Robert Traba	Chabab Mohammédia	13
1964-65	Fettah Filali	FUS Rabat	16
1965-66	Hmida Azzaoui	Mouloudia d'Oujda	14
1966-67	Houmane Jarir Abdelatif Chiadmi	Raja CA Difaâ El Jadida	18
1967–68	Hassan Chicha	Difaa El Jadida	19
1968–69	Ahmed Faras	Chabab Mohammédia	16
1969–70	Abdallah Bendriss	Union Sidi Kacem	17
1970–71	Abdallah Bendriss	Union Sidi Kacem	19
1971–72	Miloud Ouazir	Difaâ El Jadida	18
1972–73	Ahmed Faras	Chabab Mohammédia	16
1973–74	Abdelhay Ahmed	AS Salé TAS Casablanca	11
1974–75	Hassan Chicha	Difaa El Jadida	12
1975–76	Hassan Amcharrat	Chabab Mohammédia	17
1976–77	Mohamed Boussati	KAC Kenitra	17
1977–78	Mustapha Chahid	Wydad Casablanca	16
1978–79	Achibat	Renaissance Berkane	17
1979–80	Idriss Ouadich	AS FAR	15
1980–81	Mohamed Boussati	KAC Kenitra	17
1981–82	Mohamed Boussati	KAC Kenitra	25
1982–83	Abdeslam Laghrissi	AS FAR	14
1983–84	Mjidou Alaeddine Tmimi	Wydad Casablanca Mouloudia d'Oujda	11
1984–85	Hmida Boushaba	Renaissance Berkane	13
1985–86	Hassan Nader Mohammed Chaouch	Wydad Casablanca Kawkab Marrakech	13
1986–87	Abderrazak Khairi Hassan Nader	AS FAR Wydad Casablanca	12
1987–88	Lahcen Anaflous	AS FAR	17
1988–89	Hassan Nader	Wydad Casablanca	18
1989–90	Abdeslam Laghrissi	AS FAR	22
1990–91	Lahcen Anaflous	AS FAR	15
1991–92	Lahcen Anaflous	AS FAR	11
1992–93	Youssef Fertout	Wydad Casablanca	18
1993–94	Ahmed Bahja	Kawkab Marrakech	14
1994–95	Abdeslam Laghrissi	AS FAR	15
1995–96	Soufir	Jeunesse El Massira	16
1996–97	Anane	AS Salé	17
1997–98	Rachid Rokki	Chabab Mohammédia	15
1998–99	Abdelaziz Zouine	Olympique Khouribga	16
1999–00	Mustapha Bidoudane	FUS Rabat	17
2000–01	Samir Sarsar	Kawkab Marrakech	12
2001–02	Omar Zaouit	Tihad Sportif Casablanca	14
2002–03	Mustapha Bidoudane	Raja Casablanca	14
2003–04	Mustapha Bidoudane	Raja Casablanca	13
2004–05	Mohamed Armoumen	AS FAR	12
2005–06	Mamadou Ba Camara	Olympique Khouribga	9
2006–07	Jawad Ouaddouch	AS FAR	12
2007–08	Abderrazak Lamnasfi	AS FAR	13
2008–09	Mustapha Allaoui	AS FAR	14
2009–10	Omar Hassi	Widad Fez	12
2010–11	Jawad Ouaddouch	AS FAR	11
2011–12	Karl Max Barthelemy	Difaa El Jadida	17
2012–13	Abderazak Hamdallah	Olympic Safi	15
2013–14	Zouhaur Naim Zoumana Kone	Moghreb Tétouan Hassania Agadir	11
2014–15	Malick Evouna	Wydad Casablanca	16
2015–16	Mahdi Naghmi	AS FAR	12
2016–17	William Jebor	Wydad Casablanca	19
2017–18	Mouhssine Iajour	Raja Casablanca	17
2018-19	Mouhssine Iajour Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba	Raja Casablanca RS Berkane	19
2019-20	Brahim El Bahraoui	Rapide Oued Zem	16

See also

• Sport in Morocco
• Moroccan football league (1916 – 1955)

External links

• BOTOLA FACEBOOK
• League at fifa.com
• RSSSF competition history
• Botola 1 - Hailoosport.com (Arabic)
• Botola 1 - Hailoosport.com