Fifa Champions Cup: Arsenal vs AS FAR – who are Moroccan side facing Gunners?

Remarkable is the word.

Over the past decade, Morocco has gone from a women’s footballing backwater to one of the most dominant nations in Africa. That transformation has come off the back of huge investment from the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) and Moroccan government.

In 2020, the government took the decision to fund every team in the top two divisions of women’s football, paying the wages of players, coaches and medical staff. Overnight, those two divisions went from practically amateur to professional.

Each of the 14 teams in the top division have 13 designated players who are paid $500 (£369) a month directly by the Federation. Another seven players receive $350 (£259) while the head coaches receive $500. It is modest but that money is just a baseline, effectively a universal basic income.

Clubs then pay salaries on top of that, with better players in the league making in excess of $2,000 (£1,475) a month.

“I’m just sorry for myself because I wanted to live in this moment when I was a player,” says Khadija Illa, former player and president of the Moroccan league. “But when I see the girls now living the dream, I feel like I’m living it.”

“Twenty years ago, you could’ve asked: ‘Is anyone playing in Morocco?’ Now we’re the champions of Africa going to play Arsenal.”