It is Red or Green in Casablanca

It is three hours before the kick-off of Morocco's biggest sporting event: the derby between Wydad (or WAC) and Raja (or RCA). Bleachers are full of excited and anxious fans, and the crowd waits in anticipation for the much awaited event, which was a sellout four days earlier. A crowd of over 70,000 filled every corner of the stadium on Sunday, putting on a show of support with TIFOs, songs and chants.

This is football in the most football-crazy city in Morocco: boisterous fans fill the divided sides of the stadium, one half festooned in the green and white of Raja Casablanca, the other in the red and white of Wydad Casablanca.

Like Spanish classico between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid or Italian derby between AC Milan and Inter Milan, Casablanca's derby is an epic contest that divides the nation, even the same family.

It all started with Pere Jego

The rivalry between Wydad (Love) and Raja (Hope) stretches back before Moroccan independence and is embedded into the very fabric of Casablanca's society. It is closely tied up with the figure of Affani Mohamed Ben Lahcen, known more as Pere Jego.

One of the founders of WAC in 1937 and the club’s first football coach, Pere Jego was sacked from the club in 1952 after a quarrel with the club officials. He did not walk far away, though. Some meters farther, he knocked the door of the neighbour Raja to offer his services. Once in, he said: "I will divide the air of Casablanca between Wydad and Raja."

With the launch of Moroccan championship in 1956, Pere Jego got the chance to avenge his honour. Asked which of the two clubs he preferred ahead of that game, the iconic coach said: "the heart leans towards Wydad but Raja symbolises the strength of [my] character." Despite Wydad's supremacy at the period, Pere Jego predicted the victory of Raja at the inaugural meeting. Indeed, the Greens emerged winner 1-0.

That was the first of 33 wins for the Greens in the 106 contests in the league, while the Reds have celebrated 24 victories and 49 matches have ended all square. The goal tally favours Raja too, with their 88 strikes compared to WAC's 79.

Pere Jego has also had an impact on the style of both teams. He imbued a physical style of play with an emphasis on tactical awareness and a lone centre-forward to Wydad. In Raja, he applied a more spectacular approach based on impeccable techniques. Hence the nickname "Raja Lafraja" (Raja the show, in Arabic). These days, the styles have got closer, but the derby still offers a fascinating contrast between the rather English style of Wydad and Raja’s Brazilian-like philosophy.

With respect to fans, Raja supporters come in the majority from the popular neighbourhood of Derb Soltane as well as from other peripheral neighbourhoods, while Wydad fans come mostly from the middle class.

It’s fire on the pitch…

Like all Casablanca derbies, Sunday’s showdown was a breathtaking game that burst three minutes after the starting whistle when Wydad striker Hicham Jouia found the nets.

However, the local derby atmosphere took over and became very scrappy, but highly exciting, as several yellow cards and one red were brandished by the referee, who didn’t seem to please anybody in the afternoon.

That one red card, as a result of a second yellow, fell to Raja’s Oulhaj in the 13th minute and had a vital bearing on the game.

In the second half, Raja seemed to lose a lot of their drive subsequently and actually failed to score the equalizer.

For Wydad striker, Moustapha Bidoudane, one of the stars of the game, the derby is “the most important game in the season. It has a big impact on the squad for the whole season.”

While Raja defender Mourad Aini goes as far as saying that a player can only win his spurs if he plays in the derby. “A player who has not participated in the derby in Morocco should not be considered a football player.”

“The Derby is the history of Wydad and Raja. It’s about the supremacy of the two big clubs of Casablanca,” says Moussa Ndaw, a former Senegalese footballer who made his career in the Moroccan league in Wydad Casablanca in 1991 and 1992.

“Derby is all for me… I miss the derby. It is a whole life for a football player. All players dream to play this derby,” he says, before adding: “playing before 80,000 fans is a unique experience.”

… It’s hell on the bleachers

The early goal of the Reds put Wydad fans in an incredible euphoria. Tifos, chants and waves have been performed to sing the supremacy over an old nemesis.

In the other side of Mohammed-V stadium, the situation is utterly different. A deep silence enveloped the fans, who could not swallow this surprise goal.

After the game, the Greens’ fans have jeered their players off the pitch hurling insults at the squad, the management and the coach. Some have even threatened to turn their back on the Green Squad, saying that they had no more time to waste, and demanding the management to restore the prestige attached to their beloved club.

“It’s all about pride… this game is more important than the whole season,” says Yassine Pato from the fan club of Raja “Green Boys”, an extremist fan club with sections throughout Morocco.

“I cannot swallow it! it’s hard… I came from Marrakech to back my beloved team, but only to see this fiasco… It’s a shame,” he said following the 0-1 defeat of his team.

In addition to Green Boys, fan clubs of the Green Gladiators, Ultras Eagles and Freedom Boys constitute the main fan clubs of Raja Casablanca.

In the Red half of the stadium, Winners, Creators, Frimija and Tawassol make up the fan clubs of the Reds.

“Today, we will party. After defeating the Tunisians in the half final of the Arab Champions League, we have bested Raja… It’s a great joy,” says Ali, a Winners member.

“Maybe we have already lost the title, but I feel that we have won it. This game is the whole the season,” he says with all pride.

Hooligans strike again

Some minutes before the final whistle, Raja fans started throwing bottles and seats into the pitch. Out of the stadium, angry fans destroyed many buses and threw stones at Wydad fans injuring some of them.

Yet, Casablanca’s derbies have seen the worst. Last year, one person was killed and 26 were injured, including two policemen.

To prevent the recurrence of these incidents, more than 5,000 police agents have been deployed for the derby. This figure is even greater if we take into account the presence of other security services provided by the city authorities for the event.

Authorities have put the derby under the theme “No to smoke bombs." In fact, the police ensured that "smoke bombs" are not entered into the stadium by Wydad or Raja fans.

Security measures included forbidding access to stadiums for non-accompanied minors and banning perpetrators of vandalism acts from attending games for a period of two years. They also put in place CCTV cameras to watch the least move in the stadium.

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