Unlike the two previous coverages – in Egypt and the Ivory Coast -, this is the first time he has transformed the experience into an entirely authorial exhibition. Also an artist, Brecht has already done work on the tournament for magazines such as Doll e Libero and now brings to Lisbon portraits that explore football culture on and off Moroccan pitches.
“Morocco has invested immensely in football. The organization of the African Cup comes after more than ten years of investment in youth teams”, says the Belgian, explaining that the government’s contribution to sport is part of a political project of great impact in the country – which, according to him, also generates “some arrogance”.
“The African Cup was used as a showcase: to show how good and developed the country is compared to the rest of Africa, especially in terms of infrastructure. It was almost like a constant message. Many Moroccans made a point of saying: ‘The stadiums are good, aren’t they?’, There was a certain atmosphere of superiority and even arrogance in the speech of the fans, who, on the pitch, thought that everything had already been resolved.”, he remembers.
The outcome of the African Cup of Nations ended up dampening all the optimism – and messing with the political project – of the Moroccans. The host country was defeated by Senegal in the final 1-0 after Brahim Díaz missed a controversial penalty in the last minute of regulation time.
“So there was a big disappointment with the defeat in the final. The king’s brother, who was supposed to hand over the trophy to Senegal, refused to do so. This says a lot about how symbolic the project was. Normally, in April, Morocco would also organize the African Women’s Cup, but, after the defeat, they announced that they will not organize it. It almost seems like a tantrum, but it reveals how football was linked to a larger strategy”, he emphasizes.
‘Soft power’ and football outside the big centers
In the exhibition, Brecht seeks to present the tournament in Morocco as the “personification of soft power” in football. “Soft power here involves this attempt to unify the people around a flag. Internally, Morocco is not a completely stable country: there is the issue of the Rife, the occupied Sahara. Football serves to create this cohesion. There are large investments in infrastructure, but they are very concentrated around the stadiums. The rest of the country continues to wait for these benefits”.
A football fan “as well as Barcelona and Real Madrid”, the photographer remembers, among many moments, one in particular in this latest coverage in Morocco. “On December 31st, for example, I went to see Sudan x Burkina Faso. For me it was one of the most beautiful moments of the World Cup. Just the fact that Sudan qualified is already impressive, considering the country’s context”, says the photographer, who has lived between Lisbon and other parts of the world since participating in an Erasmus program in the capital in 2011.
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