“We must forgive” hotel staff for racist social media posts, a Moroccan coach says

Last updated Mar 28, 2023

Walid Regragui, coach of the national team, spoke at a press conference on Monday about racist and anti-Islamic content published on social networks by an employee of the five-star Eurostars hotel in Madrid.

In response to a question from reporters, Regragui said the young employee should be forgiven for posting illegal photos of Atlas Lions during the dinner and including racist and anti-Islamic slurs. “We don’t accept what he did, but we are Muslims and we want to show people that in Islam you have to forgive,” Regragui said. He added that the boy was young, about 19 or 20 years old, and would not take responsibility for his actions.

Regragui cited the holy month of Ramadan and the values of Muslims and the Moroccan people to explain his decision to induct the employee. Regragui suggested: “We reject racism, but he probably never left his country to know the difference, he didn’t know what Islam was and he never met an Arab.”

The coach also emphasized the importance of showing forgiveness and invited the young employee to experience Moroccan and Islamic culture firsthand. “We forgive him. If he wants to come to our house and see how Moroccans and Muslims are doing, how Ramadan is going on and how he feels, he is welcome.”