Author, director and director, Mohamed El Khatib, 42, was born into a family of Moroccan immigrants who arrived in France in the 1970s. Passionate about football, he played in the French junior team and refused a contract with Paris Saint-Germain at the age of 17 to pursue his studies while keeping a close link with football. One of his pieces, Stadium (2017), edited with 58 supporters of Racing Club de Lens, questions the link between a football club and its fans while addressing very political questions.
What is the symbolic significance of the France-Morocco match which is played on Wednesday evening?
Mohammad El Khatib: She is amazing to me. I am crossed intimately, politically, sociologically and historically by this meeting. My heart is truly torn between the two. And at the same time, politically, Morocco must win. Of course, if France is in the final, I will be the first French supporter. I really liked the cover of The Team today who speaks of “half brothers”. Indeed we are in a blended family, which is still looking for itself, but I think it is time to kill the father.
To what extent is this politically essential?
The little music I’m hearing right now is that the Moroccans are finally in the semi-finals, that it’s already a good run. And, through that, I can’t help but hear something benevolent, a little paternalistic. For me, it translates all the colonial-tourist unconscious, on the theme “it’s already great that you’re here”. In a way, we integrate domination, that it’s a gala match. However, for me, the meaning of history would be that, in a pan-Arab impulse, Morocco beats France.
So much more than just a match is played out?
Football is still the only place where the international balance of power can be thwarted, disrupted. Nobody expected Morocco at this level, but it is there. But Morocco will never be part of the G7; on the other hand, his team is part of the G4 of football. We were world champions in 1998 – and I say “we” because I am binational – but, behind the momentum, the “black-white-beur” myth has been completely shattered. We can tell stories of happy fraternity. Nevertheless, there is behind all this a resurgent colonial unconscious, an ever-present social marginalization of young people from the suburbs. And so there is a difficulty which means that the situation remains explosive despite everything. That’s why I would like Morocco to win. For France, a World Cup more or less, it will not change much. For Moroccans, this would be a great recognition.
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