The Bosnian coach of the Moroccan national team, Vahid Halilhodzic, revealed that the reasons for excluding Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech from the team’s list for the upcoming African Nations Cup in Cameroon are due to his failure to adhere to the rules set in the team.
Halilhodzic said, in statements to the Moroccan “Le 360 Sport” website, that he had set special rules regarding discipline, and that he had established strong and coherent ties between the players, and that whoever violated this would be excluded.
Speaking about the joining of Barcelona’s Abdel-Samad El-Zalzouli, the Spanish striker, Halilhodzic said that the Royal Moroccan University had made every effort to include the player in the ranks of the “Atlas Lions” and added that he had contacted El-Zalzouli some time ago and the latter explained to him his desire to play in the Moroccan team’s shirt.
The Bosnian coach said that Faouzi Lekjaa, president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, will communicate with the Barcelona administration in order to allow the player to participate in the African Nations Cup. If this does not happen, the matter will be “sad,” he said.
The African Nations Cup kicks off in Cameroon on January 9 and will continue until February 6 next year.
