Raja CA Casablanca
Encyclopedia
Raja Club Athletic or Raja ' onMouseout='HidePop("61492")' href="/topics/Arabic_transliteration">transliterated
Arabic transliteration
Different approaches and methods for the romanization of Arabic exist. They vary in the way that they address the inherent problems of rendering written and spoken Arabic in the Latin alphabet; they also use different symbols for Arabic phonemes that do not exist in English or other European...

: Nadi ar-Raja' ar-Riyady ) (Raja meaning 'hope' in Arabic) is a sports club
Sports club
A sports club or sport club, sometimes athletics club or sports association is a club for the purpose of playing one or more sports...

 with sections in many different disciplines in Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...

, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

. Raja was founded on March, 28th 1949 as part of the political struggle against French rule by nationalists who aimed to create a focus for working-class young Moroccans. The club is most well known outside Morocco for its football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 team.

In Morocco, Raja Casablanca is still regarded as the club of the people. For many years it had a reputation of playing entertaining football without winning many trophies. However Raja has evolved recently into a more professional outfit capable of winning trophies at home and abroad. It has become the most powerful club in Morocco.

Raja Casablanca, who has been crowned domestic champions on ten occasions, was placed in 2000 third in CAF's ranking of African clubs of the last century, finishing behind the Egyptian teams Al Ahly and Zamalek SC.

Raja Casablanca is the only Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

an club, and the first African and Arabic team to participate in the World Club Cup. They competed in the first edition that took place in 2000 in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

.

Raja has the largest number of supporters in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

. During the 2008–2009 season, the ultras of the club wrote, in capital letters, the tifo
Tifo
Tifo, originally the Italian word for the phenomenon of supporting a sport team, is mostly used as a name for any spectacular choreography displayed by supporters on the terraces of an arena or stadium in connection with a sport event, mostly a football match....

 "VOX POPULI" (meaning 'voice of the people' in Latin).

Choice of the name

After several attempts to find a name worthy of a team that will represent the Moroccan people, officials were left with two fitting names left on the table, Raja and Fath. Raja was chosen after winning three successive votes.

Beginning

The club joined the Moroccan league from the foundation of it by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation in 1956. The prohibition of entrusting the presidency to a Moroccan will quickly be circumvented by leaving this chair for six months, Ben Abadja Hejja, a Muslim of Algerian descent and who benefited from this fact of French nationality. The French authorities taken aback by this scheme were forced to accept the accomplished fact.

So in 1949 Raja, composed exclusively of Moroccan players, started its first year in the Division of Honor. It moved to the second division in its first season and reached the first division in 1951 and was therefore the first team to integrate the Moroccan first division after matches dams. Since then, the club has been considered an elite Moroccan football team.

The first coach of the club was Kassimi Kacem and Raja was known to be very successful under his leadership. Along with Boujemaa Kadri, a peerless leader, the two would distinguish themselves by working methodically and colossal administratively and organizationally. This duo would survive all the ups and downs of the club's history and establish the reputation of Raja in many areas.

Style

Since its inception, Raja has always had a reputation of being a team of artists playing enjoyably and having fun. Pere Jego has instilled a collective game, specific, based on short passes, the one-two, the offensive and individual achievement, hence the label Raja lfraja "(Raja of the show). With this system, Raja frightened their opponents and they were able to humiliate the biggest clubs with a spectacular game marked by small bridges as well as combinations of high level without worrying about the score. The team did not win a national title until 1974 with its first cut of the throne and in 1988 with its first victory in the championship followed by a Champions League in 1989, without counting the championship title refused to Raja in the 1959–1960 season.

Their style of play led to Raja gaining the support and encouragement of 40,000 Brazilians at the Murumbi stadium in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

, during its historic performance in the Club World Cup in 2000 in its game against Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...

 of Vicente Del Bosque
Vicente Del Bosque
Vicente del Bosque González, 1st Marquis of Del Bosque is a former Spanish footballer He is currently the manager of the Spanish national football team. After taking over from Luis Aragonés who had led Spain to European success in Euro 2008, Del Bosque went on to manage the national team to the...

.
This appearance on the world circuit had attracted the attention of many football experts. Just after the competition, the team received an invitation from the Juventus FC in Marcelo Lippi to play a preparation match at Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...

.

The colors and logo

The color green was chosen by the founders of the club because it symbolizes hope and growth. Green is also considered the traditional color of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

. On top of that, green is one of the colors on the Moroccan flag
Flag of Morocco
The flag of Morocco is made of a red field with a black-bordered green pentagram.Red has considerable historic significance in Morocco, proclaiming the descent of the royal Alaouite family from the Prophet Muhammad via Fatima, the wife of Ali, the fourth Muslim Caliph. Red is also the color that...

.

The eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...

, meanwhile, in a period marked by the colonization of the country and the resistance, accounted for founding the strong raptor
Bird of prey
Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....

, prestigious and combative.

The golden era of 90's

During this period, the greens won a great amount of national and continental titles.
The team won the championship six times in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001, which remains an unbeatable record. Plus, they won a moroccan cup in 1996, and four continental titles (2 CAF Champions League
CAF Champions League
The CAF Champions League is an annual international club football competition run by the Confederation of African Football . The top club sides from Africa's football leagues are invited to participate in this competition, which is the premier club football competition on the continent and the...

 in 1997 and 1999, Afro-Asian Cup in 1998, and CAF Super Cup
CAF Super Cup
The CAF Super Cup is an annual African association football competition contested between the winners of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup. The competition was first held in 1993 and is organised by the Confederation of African Football...

 in 2000).

{| class="toccolours" style="background:#ffffff;" align="right" width="100%"|
|align="center"|

Raja Club Athletic or Raja ' onMouseout='HidePop("94168")' href="/topics/Arabic_transliteration">transliterated
Arabic transliteration
Different approaches and methods for the romanization of Arabic exist. They vary in the way that they address the inherent problems of rendering written and spoken Arabic in the Latin alphabet; they also use different symbols for Arabic phonemes that do not exist in English or other European...

: Nadi ar-Raja' ar-Riyady ) (Raja meaning 'hope' in Arabic) is a sports club
Sports club
A sports club or sport club, sometimes athletics club or sports association is a club for the purpose of playing one or more sports...

 with sections in many different disciplines in Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...

, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

. Raja was founded on March, 28th 1949 as part of the political struggle against French rule by nationalists who aimed to create a focus for working-class young Moroccans. The club is most well known outside Morocco for its football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 team.

In Morocco, Raja Casablanca is still regarded as the club of the people. For many years it had a reputation of playing entertaining football without winning many trophies. However Raja has evolved recently into a more professional outfit capable of winning trophies at home and abroad. It has become the most powerful club in Morocco.

Raja Casablanca, who has been crowned domestic champions on ten occasions, was placed in 2000 third in CAF's ranking of African clubs of the last century, finishing behind the Egyptian teams Al Ahly and Zamalek SC.

Raja Casablanca is the only Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

an club, and the first African and Arabic team to participate in the World Club Cup. They competed in the first edition that took place in 2000 in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

.

Raja has the largest number of supporters in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

. During the 2008–2009 season, the ultras of the club wrote, in capital letters, the tifo
Tifo
Tifo, originally the Italian word for the phenomenon of supporting a sport team, is mostly used as a name for any spectacular choreography displayed by supporters on the terraces of an arena or stadium in connection with a sport event, mostly a football match....

 "VOX POPULI" (meaning 'voice of the people' in Latin).

Choice of the name

After several attempts to find a name worthy of a team that will represent the Moroccan people, officials were left with two fitting names left on the table, Raja and Fath. Raja was chosen after winning three successive votes.

Beginning

The club joined the Moroccan league from the foundation of it by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation in 1956. The prohibition of entrusting the presidency to a Moroccan will quickly be circumvented by leaving this chair for six months, Ben Abadja Hejja, a Muslim of Algerian descent and who benefited from this fact of French nationality. The French authorities taken aback by this scheme were forced to accept the accomplished fact.

So in 1949 Raja, composed exclusively of Moroccan players, started its first year in the Division of Honor. It moved to the second division in its first season and reached the first division in 1951 and was therefore the first team to integrate the Moroccan first division after matches dams. Since then, the club has been considered an elite Moroccan football team.

The first coach of the club was Kassimi Kacem and Raja was known to be very successful under his leadership. Along with Boujemaa Kadri, a peerless leader, the two would distinguish themselves by working methodically and colossal administratively and organizationally. This duo would survive all the ups and downs of the club's history and establish the reputation of Raja in many areas.

Style

Since its inception, Raja has always had a reputation of being a team of artists playing enjoyably and having fun. Pere Jego has instilled a collective game, specific, based on short passes, the one-two, the offensive and individual achievement, hence the label Raja lfraja "(Raja of the show). With this system, Raja frightened their opponents and they were able to humiliate the biggest clubs with a spectacular game marked by small bridges as well as combinations of high level without worrying about the score. The team did not win a national title until 1974 with its first cut of the throne and in 1988 with its first victory in the championship followed by a Champions League in 1989, without counting the championship title refused to Raja in the 1959–1960 season.

Their style of play led to Raja gaining the support and encouragement of 40,000 Brazilians at the Murumbi stadium in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

, during its historic performance in the Club World Cup in 2000 in its game against Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...

 of Vicente Del Bosque
Vicente Del Bosque
Vicente del Bosque González, 1st Marquis of Del Bosque is a former Spanish footballer He is currently the manager of the Spanish national football team. After taking over from Luis Aragonés who had led Spain to European success in Euro 2008, Del Bosque went on to manage the national team to the...

.
This appearance on the world circuit had attracted the attention of many football experts. Just after the competition, the team received an invitation from the Juventus FC in Marcelo Lippi to play a preparation match at Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...

.

The colors and logo

The color green was chosen by the founders of the club because it symbolizes hope and growth. Green is also considered the traditional color of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

. On top of that, green is one of the colors on the Moroccan flag
Flag of Morocco
The flag of Morocco is made of a red field with a black-bordered green pentagram.Red has considerable historic significance in Morocco, proclaiming the descent of the royal Alaouite family from the Prophet Muhammad via Fatima, the wife of Ali, the fourth Muslim Caliph. Red is also the color that...

.

The eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...

, meanwhile, in a period marked by the colonization of the country and the resistance, accounted for founding the strong raptor
Bird of prey
Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....

, prestigious and combative.

The golden era of 90's

During this period, the greens won a great amount of national and continental titles.
The team won the championship six times in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001, which remains an unbeatable record. Plus, they won a moroccan cup in 1996, and four continental titles (2 CAF Champions League
CAF Champions League
The CAF Champions League is an annual international club football competition run by the Confederation of African Football . The top club sides from Africa's football leagues are invited to participate in this competition, which is the premier club football competition on the continent and the...

 in 1997 and 1999, Afro-Asian Cup in 1998, and CAF Super Cup
CAF Super Cup
The CAF Super Cup is an annual African association football competition contested between the winners of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup. The competition was first held in 1993 and is organised by the Confederation of African Football...

 in 2000).

{| class="toccolours" style="background:#ffffff;" align="right" width="100%"|
|align="center"|

Raja Club Athletic or Raja ' onMouseout='HidePop("52158")' href="/topics/Arabic_transliteration">transliterated
Arabic transliteration
Different approaches and methods for the romanization of Arabic exist. They vary in the way that they address the inherent problems of rendering written and spoken Arabic in the Latin alphabet; they also use different symbols for Arabic phonemes that do not exist in English or other European...

: Nadi ar-Raja' ar-Riyady ) (Raja meaning 'hope' in Arabic) is a sports club
Sports club
A sports club or sport club, sometimes athletics club or sports association is a club for the purpose of playing one or more sports...

 with sections in many different disciplines in Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...

, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

. Raja was founded on March, 28th 1949 as part of the political struggle against French rule by nationalists who aimed to create a focus for working-class young Moroccans. The club is most well known outside Morocco for its football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 team.

In Morocco, Raja Casablanca is still regarded as the club of the people. For many years it had a reputation of playing entertaining football without winning many trophies. However Raja has evolved recently into a more professional outfit capable of winning trophies at home and abroad. It has become the most powerful club in Morocco.

Raja Casablanca, who has been crowned domestic champions on ten occasions, was placed in 2000 third in CAF's ranking of African clubs of the last century, finishing behind the Egyptian teams Al Ahly and Zamalek SC.

Raja Casablanca is the only Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

an club, and the first African and Arabic team to participate in the World Club Cup. They competed in the first edition that took place in 2000 in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

.

Raja has the largest number of supporters in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

. During the 2008–2009 season, the ultras of the club wrote, in capital letters, the tifo
Tifo
Tifo, originally the Italian word for the phenomenon of supporting a sport team, is mostly used as a name for any spectacular choreography displayed by supporters on the terraces of an arena or stadium in connection with a sport event, mostly a football match....

 "VOX POPULI" (meaning 'voice of the people' in Latin).

Choice of the name

After several attempts to find a name worthy of a team that will represent the Moroccan people, officials were left with two fitting names left on the table, Raja and Fath. Raja was chosen after winning three successive votes.

Beginning

The club joined the Moroccan league from the foundation of it by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation in 1956. The prohibition of entrusting the presidency to a Moroccan will quickly be circumvented by leaving this chair for six months, Ben Abadja Hejja, a Muslim of Algerian descent and who benefited from this fact of French nationality. The French authorities taken aback by this scheme were forced to accept the accomplished fact.

So in 1949 Raja, composed exclusively of Moroccan players, started its first year in the Division of Honor. It moved to the second division in its first season and reached the first division in 1951 and was therefore the first team to integrate the Moroccan first division after matches dams. Since then, the club has been considered an elite Moroccan football team.

The first coach of the club was Kassimi Kacem and Raja was known to be very successful under his leadership. Along with Boujemaa Kadri, a peerless leader, the two would distinguish themselves by working methodically and colossal administratively and organizationally. This duo would survive all the ups and downs of the club's history and establish the reputation of Raja in many areas.

Style

Since its inception, Raja has always had a reputation of being a team of artists playing enjoyably and having fun. Pere Jego has instilled a collective game, specific, based on short passes, the one-two, the offensive and individual achievement, hence the label Raja lfraja "(Raja of the show). With this system, Raja frightened their opponents and they were able to humiliate the biggest clubs with a spectacular game marked by small bridges as well as combinations of high level without worrying about the score. The team did not win a national title until 1974 with its first cut of the throne and in 1988 with its first victory in the championship followed by a Champions League in 1989, without counting the championship title refused to Raja in the 1959–1960 season.

Their style of play led to Raja gaining the support and encouragement of 40,000 Brazilians at the Murumbi stadium in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

, during its historic performance in the Club World Cup in 2000 in its game against Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...

 of Vicente Del Bosque
Vicente Del Bosque
Vicente del Bosque González, 1st Marquis of Del Bosque is a former Spanish footballer He is currently the manager of the Spanish national football team. After taking over from Luis Aragonés who had led Spain to European success in Euro 2008, Del Bosque went on to manage the national team to the...

.
This appearance on the world circuit had attracted the attention of many football experts. Just after the competition, the team received an invitation from the Juventus FC in Marcelo Lippi to play a preparation match at Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...

.

The colors and logo

The color green was chosen by the founders of the club because it symbolizes hope and growth. Green is also considered the traditional color of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

. On top of that, green is one of the colors on the Moroccan flag
Flag of Morocco
The flag of Morocco is made of a red field with a black-bordered green pentagram.Red has considerable historic significance in Morocco, proclaiming the descent of the royal Alaouite family from the Prophet Muhammad via Fatima, the wife of Ali, the fourth Muslim Caliph. Red is also the color that...

.

The eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...

, meanwhile, in a period marked by the colonization of the country and the resistance, accounted for founding the strong raptor
Bird of prey
Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....

, prestigious and combative.

The golden era of 90's

During this period, the greens won a great amount of national and continental titles.
The team won the championship six times in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001, which remains an unbeatable record. Plus, they won a moroccan cup in 1996, and four continental titles (2 CAF Champions League
CAF Champions League
The CAF Champions League is an annual international club football competition run by the Confederation of African Football . The top club sides from Africa's football leagues are invited to participate in this competition, which is the premier club football competition on the continent and the...

 in 1997 and 1999, Afro-Asian Cup in 1998, and CAF Super Cup
CAF Super Cup
The CAF Super Cup is an annual African association football competition contested between the winners of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup. The competition was first held in 1993 and is organised by the Confederation of African Football...

 in 2000).

{| class="toccolours" style="background:#ffffff;" align="right" width="100%"|
|align="center"|
|}

Appearances on the international circuit

Raja Casablanca is the only Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

an club, and the first African and Arabic team to participate in the World Club Cup. They competed in the first edition that took place in 2000 in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. A competition that allowed them to confront some of the great football teams from around the world, such as Real Madrid CF from Spain and SC Corinthians
Sport Club Corinthians Paulista
Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, commonly just known as Corinthians , is a Brazilian football club based in the city of São Paulo. They play in the São Paulo state league, as well as the Brasileirão, Brazil's top national league...

 from Brazil.

1959–1960 season controversy

The final standings of the 1959–1960 season showed that 3 teams were tied for first in terms of total points: Raja Casablanca, FAR Rabat
FAR Rabat
Forces Armées Royales de Rabat is a Moroccan football club based in Morocco's capital city .The club was founded in 1958 soon after Morocco had gained their independence, and is one of the most famous football clubs in Morocco with Raja and Wydad. FAR stands for , roughly translated to mean Royal...

 and KAC Kenitra
KAC Kenitra
Kenitra Athletic Club is a Moroccan football club based in the city of Kenitra.-History:The club which was founded in 1938, is one of the most famous and popular football clubs in Morocco...

. Undoubtedly, the best goal difference
Goal difference
In sports such as ice hockey and association football, goal difference is often the first tiebreaker used to rank teams which finish a league competition with an equal number of points....

 was that of Raja Casablanca, which should have granted them the win, as per the FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

 official rules and regulations. However, a triangular tournament was imposed and Raja refused to take part in protest against the fact that they did in fact have the better goal difference, and therefore, logically and legally, the title should be awarded to them. Due to their protest, KAC Kenitra was pronounced the winner after their match against FAR Rabat ended with a 1–0 win. Despite the people's opinion that the title should have been awarded to Raja Casablanca, the decision stood and Raja remained without the title until their win in 1974.

Many believe that the call for a triangular tournament was politically motivated. After only three years of independence, there was political instability in the country. The Army team of Morocco, the FAR Rabat
FAR Rabat
Forces Armées Royales de Rabat is a Moroccan football club based in Morocco's capital city .The club was founded in 1958 soon after Morocco had gained their independence, and is one of the most famous football clubs in Morocco with Raja and Wydad. FAR stands for , roughly translated to mean Royal...

 (Royal Armed Forces), had been founded in 1958 and some politicians wanted them to win their first title that year. However, they lost the tournament and the title was awarded to KAC Kenitra.

Mohamed V Stadium

The Mohamed V Stadium is part of a large sports complex in the heart of the city of Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...

, specifically in upscale neighborhood of Maarif.
It was inaugurated on , and today has a capacity of 67,000 spectators, not counting the North and South turns that have no seats, but where environments are warmer.
The south turn or "Magana" (the clock in Moroccan dialect) ended up moving the main groups Raja Casablanca fans.
In 2007, the stadium was equipped with a semi-artificial turf which is acceptable under international standards. As well, the seats in the stands, the sanitary facilities and athletics track were all replaced.

Schools and sport facilities

The school of Raja is among the best schools in Africa, and has always produced great players who have played for Raja as well as the Moroccan national team. Some notable players include Abdelmajid Dolmy
Abdelmajid Dolmy
Abdelmajid Dolmy is a retired Moroccan football defender.Dolmy played club football for Raja Casablanca in the Botola. He also played for the Morocco national football team at the 1984 Summer Olympics...

, El Mustapha Haddaoui, Abdellatif Beggar, Houmane Jarir, Petchou, Mustapha Moustawdaa, Salaheddine Bassir, Mustapha Chadili
Mustapha Chadili
Mustapha Chadili is a Moroccan football goalkeeper who currently plays for FAR Rabat.Chadili played for Raja Casablanca at the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship....

, Jamal Sellami
Jamal Sellami
Jamal Sellami is a retired Moroccan football player.He played for several clubs, including Olympique Casablanca, Raja Casablanca, Maghreb Fez and Beşiktaş J.K. in Turkey....

, Hicham Aboucherouane, Soufiane Alloudi
Soufiane Alloudi
Soufiane Alloudi is a Moroccan football striker currently playing for Al-Ain FC.On September 2007, ADLI has transferred by Raja Casablanca to Al-Ain FC on a 3 year contract, his loan fee was reported to be 450.000 $....

, Merouane Zemmama
Merouane Zemmama
Merouane Zemmama is a Moroccan football player who currently plays for English Championship club Middlesbrough. Zemmama represented Morocco at the 2004 Summer Olympics and was first capped at full international level in 2008....

, Talal El Karkouri, and Youssef Safri
Youssef Safri
Youssef Safri is a Moroccan footballer who plays as a midfielder for Qatar SC in the Qatari League.-Career:Safri had played for Coventry City from 2001 to 2004 where he made his name in the English game after a transfer from Raja Casablanca of Morocco. This time was not without controversy however...

.


Sports facilities available to Raja Casablanca:
  • Raja Oasis Sports Complex: Raja Oasis Sports Centre is where Raja Casablanca trains. It houses the club's training facility which includes three football fields, a gym, a boarding school for the training center, a restaurant group ...

  • Complex Tessema

  • Stage Roches Noires

Trophies

  • CAF Champions League
    CAF Champions League
    The CAF Champions League is an annual international club football competition run by the Confederation of African Football . The top club sides from Africa's football leagues are invited to participate in this competition, which is the premier club football competition on the continent and the...

    : 3
1989, 1997, 1999
Runner-up : 2002

  • Moroccan League: 10
1988, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2009, 2011
Runner-up : 1960; 1966; 1986; 1991; 1993; 2003; 2005; 2010

  • Moroccan Cup
    Moroccan Cup
    The Coupe du Trône, the Moroccan Cup is a football cup competition open to both professional and amateur clubs in Morocco.-Results of finals:-Performance by club:-External links:*...

    : 6
1974, 1977, 1982, 1996, 2002, 2005
Runner-up : 1965; 1968; 1983; 1992

  • CAF Cup
    CAF Cup
    The CAF Cup was an annual competition organised by the CAF for domestic leagues runner-ups of member associations who haven't qualified to one of the two pre-existing CAF international club competitions the African Cup of Champions Clubs or the African Cup Winners' Cup.-Format:Only runner-ups of...

    : 1
2003

  • CAF Super Cup
    CAF Super Cup
    The CAF Super Cup is an annual African association football competition contested between the winners of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup. The competition was first held in 1993 and is organised by the Confederation of African Football...

    : 1
2000
Runner-up :1997

  • Afro-Asian Club Championship
    Afro-Asian Club Championship
    The Afro-Asian Club Championship, sometimes referred to as the Afro-Asian Cup, was a football competition endorsed by the Confederation of African Football and Asian Football Confederation , contested between the winners of the African Champions' Cup and the Asian Club Championship, the two...

    : 1
1999

  • Arab Champions League
    Arab Champions League
    The Arab Champions League is a football tournament for clubs in the Arab world. It was inspired by the UEFA Champions League.The Arab Champions League was first known as the Arab Club Champions Cup, and established in 1982. In 2001, it merged with the Arab Cup Winners' Cup to form the new Prince...

    : 1
2006
Runner-up : 1996

  • Abha Cup: 1
2004
Runner-up : 2001

  • Arab Summer Cup: 1
2007

  • Antifi Cup: 1
2009
Runner-up : 2010

Performance in CAF competitions

  • CAF Champions League
    CAF Champions League
    The CAF Champions League is an annual international club football competition run by the Confederation of African Football . The top club sides from Africa's football leagues are invited to participate in this competition, which is the premier club football competition on the continent and the...

    : 12 appearances
1989 Winners
1997 Winners
1998 Group Stage
1999 Winners
2000 Second Round
2001 Second Round
2002 Runners Up
2004 Second Round
2005 Semi Finals
2006 Second Round
2010 First Round
2010 CAF Champions League
The 2010 CAF Champions League was the 46th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football , and the 14th edition under the current CAF Champions League format...

2011 Group Stage
2011 CAF Champions League
The 2011 CAF Champions League was the 47th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football , and the 15th edition under the current CAF Champions League format...


Squad

As of January 31, 2011

Out on loan

Club managers

Kacem Kassimi (1949-55) Abdelkader Jalal (1956) Père Jégo (1957-68) Abdellah Blinda
Abdellah Blinda
Abdellah El-Ajri, "Blinda" was a Moroccan football player and manager and a handball player.- Career :Abdellah Blinda was firstly a handball player before he started playing football...

 Houmane Tibari Tachkov Paul Orotz Harmatallah Hassan (1986-88) Fernando Cabrita
Fernando Cabrita
Fernando da Silva Cabrita was a Portuguese footballer and football manager.He played as a forward for teams like Olhanense and Sporting da Covilhã, but he still had 7 caps for Portugal National Team, 4 for Olhanense and 3 for Sporting da Covilhã...

 (1988-89), (1990-91) Rabah Saadane
Rabah Saadane
Rabah Saâdane is a retired Algerian professional football player whose playing career was abruptly interrupted at the age of 27 by a car accident...

 (1989-90) Mohamed Fakhir
Mohamed Fakhir
Mohamed Fakhir is a former Moroccan football player who used to play for Raja Casablanca. Fakhir has also been a manager for several Moroccan clubs and the Morocco national football team...

 (1992-96), (2010-July 11) Gennady Rogov (1996) Alexandru Moldovan
Alexandru Moldovan
Alexandru Moldovan is a Romanian football manager and former Midfielder. As a footballer he played in the 1970s for Crişul Oradea, Dinamo Bucureşti and Jiul Petroşani-Managerial career:...

 (1996-97), (2002), (2005) Abdellah El Ammari (1997) Vahid Halilhodžić
Vahid Halilhodžic
Vahid "Vaha" Halilhodžić is a former Bosnian football player and now a manager, currently managing the Algeria national football team....

 (1997-98) Oscar Fulloné
Oscar Fulloné
Luis Oscar Fulloné is an Argentine football coach and former player. He is currently coaching KAC Kenitra in the Botola.In 1968 he joined Aston Villa F.C. of England, but never played for the first team....

 (1998-00), (2005-06)
Valdeir Vieira
Valdeir Vieira
Valdeir "Badú" Vieira is a Brazilian football manager who is currently Head Coach of Bahrain Club in the Bahraini Premier League.-Playing career:...

 (2000) Fathi Jamal
Fathi Jamal
Fathi Jamal is a Moroccan former footballer, who played most of his career for Raja Casablanca, JSM Laayoune and Kawkab Marrakech. After retiring as a player, he coached many teams, most notably Morocco's youth team that finished 4th at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship...

 (2000-01) Silvester Takač
Silvester Takac
Silvester Takač is a Serbian former football forward and manager.-References:* *...

 (2001-02) Walter Meeuws
Walter Meeuws
Walter Meeuws is a retired Belgian footballer and current manager of Egyptian Premier League side Wadi Degla.During his career he played for K. Beerschot V.A.C., Club Brugge K.V., R. Standard de Liège, AFC Ajax, K.V. Mechelen...

 (2002-03) Henri Michel
Henri Michel
-External links:...

 (2003-04), (2010) Acácio Casimiro (2004) Alain Fiard (2004) Henri Stambouli
Henri Stambouli
Henri Stambouli is a retired French football player and manager, he was last managing Istres.-Career:He played for Rodez, Monaco and Marseille.-Coaching career:...

 (2004-05) Paco Fortes
Paco Fortes
Francisco 'Paco' Fortes Calvo is a retired Spanish football forward and manager.Even though he also played for FC Barcelona, his career was mainly associated with Farense in Portugal, either as a player or manager.-Playing career:Fortes emerged through local FC Barcelona's youth ranks, going on to...

 (2006-07) Mohammed Nejmi (2007) Jean-Yves Chay
Jean-Yves Chay
Jean-Yves Chay is a French football manager.He has previously played for FC Gueugnon and coached some French clubs such as SCO Angers and FC Gueugnon and JS Kabylie. He has been appointed coach of Raja Casablanca in 2007-Honours:* Won the CAF Cup in 2002 with JS Kabylie* Won the Algerian League...

 (2007-08) Jamal Sellami
Jamal Sellami
Jamal Sellami is a retired Moroccan football player.He played for several clubs, including Olympique Casablanca, Raja Casablanca, Maghreb Fez and Beşiktaş J.K. in Turkey....

 (2008) José Romão
José Romão
José Pratas Romão , is a Portuguese football coach and former defender.He played for C.D. Beja, Vitória S.C., A.D. Fafe, Penafiel, G.D. Riopele, G.C. Alcobaça and Vizela.He coached Vizela, Penafiel, G.D...

 (2008-09), (2009-10) Carlos Mozer
Carlos Mozer
José Carlos Nepomuceno Mozer is a retired Brazilian footballer who played as a central defender, and a current coach.In his career, he was mainly associated with Benfica in Portugal, which he represented in two separate spells...

 (2009) Ilie Balaci
Ilie Balaci
Ilie Balaci is a retired Romanian football midfielder.He was born in Bistreţ, Dolj County and debuted in Divizia A with FC Universitatea Craiova in 1973. He played 12 seasons for Universitatea, winning the league titles in 1980 and 1981. The team also won the Romanian Cup in 1977, 1978, 1981 and...

 (July 2011-) Bertrand Marchand
Bertrand Marchand
Bertrand Marchand is a French former football player who is the manager of RCA Raja Club Athletic.-Teams as a player:* 1972 - 1980 : Stade Rennais* 1980 - 1982 : Montmorillon* 1982 - 1985 : Thouars Foot 79-Teams as a coach:...

 (September 2011-)

Supporters

The southern part of Complexe Mohamed V is fully occupied by supporters of the club it is the famous area called LMAGANA. It distinguishes four sectors of this area of the stadium.
  • The official gallery devoted in part to the leaders and members of the club.
  • The Tribune side, covered with green seats and rostrum.
  • The Virage Sud, blank marked by the presence of a mythical scoreboard.

  • The Bleachers, covered with green seats and free forum.

External links

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