Family mourns Moroccan footballer who drowned trying to reach Ceuta
The family of Moroccan footballer Faten Al-Azizi is mourning her death after she drowned attempting to swim from Fnideq to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in search of a better life.
Footage by Viory on Wednesday at the family's home in Tetouan showed photographs of Faten on the walls as her mother, Jamila Afloun, held her daughter's football jersey in tears.
Afloun said Faten worked and played football but felt she had no future in Morocco.
"She left to build her future, to have money, and to help her mother so that I would not have to work, to help the sick one get treatment, and to help us pay the rent and the water and electricity bills. She was the home's pillar," she said.
She added that Faten had been told she could obtain a football-related visa through a club president, although she did not know the details.
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The Moroccan Professional Footballers Association expressed its sorrow over Al-Azizi's death.
Her death came during a mass attempt to reach Ceuta from Fnideq, when tens of thousands of people headed towards the Spanish enclave by land and sea. Spanish authorities estimated that between 50,000 and 60,000 people crossed into Ceuta, many by swimming around coastal border barriers, before most later returned to Morocco.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
