# 2018–19 Botola

The 2018–19 Botola, also known as Botola Maroc Telecom for sponsorship reasons, is the 62nd season of the Premier League and the 8th under its new format of Moroccan Pro League, the top Moroccan professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1956. The season started on 25 August 2018 and ended on 15 May 2019.
IR Tanger came into the season as defending champions of the 2017–18 season. Mouloudia Oujda and Youssoufia Berrechid entered as the two promoted teams from the 2017–18 Botola 2.

## Teams
### Stadium and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| AS FAR | Rabat | Stade Moulay Abdellah | 53,000 |
| Chabab Rif Al Hoceima | Al Hoceima | Stade Mimoun Al Arsi | 12,000 |
| Difaâ El Jadidi | El Jadida | Stade El Abdi | 15,000 |
| Fath Union Sport | Rabat | Stade de FUS | 15,000 |
| Hassania Agadir | Agadir | Stade Adrar | 45,000 |
| IR Tanger | Tanger | Grand Stade de Tanger | 45,000 |
| Kawkab Marrakech | Marrakech | Stade de Marrakech | 45,000 |
| Moghreb Tétouan | Tétouan | Saniat Rmel | 15,000 |
| RSB Berkane | Berkane | Stade Municipal | 30,000 |
| Mouloudia Oujda | Oujda | Honneur Stadium | 35,000 |
| Olympic Safi | Safi | Stade El Massira | 10,000 |
| Olympique Khouribga | Khouribga | Complexe OCP | 10,000 |
| Raja Casablanca | Casablanca | Stade Mohamed V | 67,000 |
| Rapide Oued Zem | Oued Zem | Stade Municipal | 3,000 |
| Wydad Athletic Club | Casablanca | Stade Mohamed V | 67,000 |
| Youssoufia Berrechid | Berrechid | Stade Municipal | 5,000 |

### Personnel and kits

| Teams | Managers | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Association sportive des FAR | Carlos Alós Ferrer | Joma | |
| Chabab Rif Al Hoceima | Saïd Chiba | Bang Sports | Al Omrane, CGI |
| Difaâ El Jadidi | Ezzaki Badou | Bang Sports | innjoo, Radio Mars, TGCC |
| FUS Rabat | Walid Regragui | Uhlsport | Emaar, Novec, LafargeHolcim |
| Hassania Agadir | Miguel Ángel Gamondi | Uhlsport | Afriquia, Skoda, Souss-Massa, Joly |
| IR Tanger | Abdelouahed Belqassem | Gloria sport | Moroccan Airports Authority, Renault, APM Terminals, Tanger-Med, Valencia, STG telecom, RCI Finance Maroc |
| Kawkab Marrakesh | Azedine Benis | Puma | Poste Maroc, Sanad, CitySport, Menara Mall |
| Moghreb Tétouan | Tarik Sektioui | Legea | Halib Tetaouen, Al Omrane, Radio Mars |
| Mouloudia Oujda | Abdelaziz Kerkache | Bang Sports | |
| OC Khouribga | Rachid Taoussi | Bang Sports | OCP |
| Olympic Safi | Hicham Dmii | Uhlsport | Fitco |
| Raja Casablanca | Patrice Carteron | Legea | Siera, Nor'Dar, Prodec, Infinix, Hyundai, Or Blanc, MarsaMaroc, Atlanta Assurances |
| Rapide Oued Zem | Hassan Benabicha | Bang Sports | Morih |
| RSB Berkane | Mounir Jaouani | Bang Sports | Souiri, Afriquia |
| Wydad Casablanca | Faouzi Benzarti | Macron | Ingelec, Alitkane, Koutoubia |
| Youssoufia Berrechid | Said Seddiki | Bang Sports | Dalaa |
    1. ^ On the back of shirt.
    2. ^ On the sleeves.
    3. ^ On the shorts.
* Maroc Telecom is a sponsor for all the league's teams.
* Additionally, referee kits are made by Adidas.

### Managerial changes

| Teams | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| AS FAR | Abderrazak Khairi | End of contract | 20 May 2018 | Mohamed Fakhir | 21 May 2018 |
| Olympic Safi | Mohamed Amine Benhachem | End of contract | 30 May 2018 | Hicham Dmii | 9 June 2018 |
| OC Khouribga | Bernard Simondi | End of contract | 30 June 2018 | Mohamed Amine Benhachem | 3 July 2018 |
| Chabab Rif Al Hoceima | Nacer Sandjak | End of contract | 30 June 2018 | Mimoun Ouaali | 25 July 2018 |
| Wydad Casablanca | Faouzi Benzarti | Contract termination | 28 July 2018 | Abdelhadi Sektioui | 3 August 2018 |
| Chabab Rif Al Hoceima | Mimoun Ouaali | Sacked | 7 September 2018 | Juan Pedro Benali | 13 September 2018 |
| IR Tanger | Driss El Mrabet | Contract termination | 25 September 2018 | Ahmad Al-Ajlani | 25 September 2018 |
| Wydad Casablanca | Abdelhadi Sektioui | Contract termination | 25 September 2018 | René Girard | 29 September 2018 |
| Difaâ El Jadidi | Abderrahim Talib | Resigned | 26 October 2018 | Hubert Velud | 30 October 2018 |
| Wydad Casablanca | René Girard | Resigned | 23 November 2018 | Faouzi Benzarti | 27 November 2018 |
| AS FAR | Mohamed Fakhir | Contract termination | 7 December 2018 | Mouhcine Bouhlal (interim) | 11 December 2018 |
| IR Tanger | Ahmad Al-Ajlani | Contract termination | 25 December 2018 | Abdelouahed Belqassem | 25 December 2018 |
| Kawkab Marrakesh | Faouzi Jamal | Contract termination | 26 December 2018 | Aziz El Amri | 26 December 2018 |
| AS FAR | Mouhcine Bouhlal (interim) | End of tenure as caretaker | 21 January 2019 | Carlos Alós Ferrer | 21 January 2019 |
| Raja Casablanca | Juan Carlos Garrido | Contract termination | 28 January 2019 | Patrice Carteron | 30 January 2019 |
| OC Khouribga | Mohamed Amine Benhachem | Sacked | 28 January 2019 | Rachid Taoussi | 29 January 2019 |
| Moghreb Tétouan | Abdelouahed Benhsain | Sacked | 9 February 2019 | Tarik Sektioui | 11 February 2019 |
| Difaâ El Jadidi | Hubert Velud | Sacked | 10 February 2019 | Ezzaki Badou | 11 February 2019 |
| Kawkab Marrakesh | Aziz El Amri | Sacked | 18 February 2019 | Azedine Benis (interim) | 18 February 2019 |
| Rapide Oued Zem | Tarek Mostafa | Contract termination | 25 February 2019 | Hassan Benabicha | 1 March 2019 |
| Kawkab Marrakesh | Azedine Benis (interim) | End of tenure as caretaker | 12 March 2019 | Jawad Milani | 12 March 2019 |
| Kawkab Marrakesh | Jawad Milani | End of tenure as caretaker | 12 March 2019 | Azedine Benis | 12 March 2019 |
| Chabab Rif Al Hoceima | Juan Pedro Benali | Contract termination | 5 April 2019 | Saïd Chiba | 7 April 2019 |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Wydad Casablanca (C) | 30 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 56 | 30 | +26 | 59 | Qualification for Champions League |
| 2 | Raja Casablanca | 30 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 56 | 36 | +20 | 55 | Qualification for Champions League |
| 3 | Hassania Agadir | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 30 | 22 | +8 | 45 | Qualification for Confederation Cup |
| 4 | Olympic Safi | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 37 | 38 | −1 | 45 | Participation in Arab Club Champions Cup |
| 5 | IR Tanger | 30 | 9 | 13 | 8 | 27 | 30 | −3 | 40 | Participation in Arab Club Champions Cup |
| 6 | Youssoufia Berrechid | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 36 | 37 | −1 | 39 | |
| 7 | RSB Berkane | 30 | 8 | 15 | 7 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 39 | Qualification for Confederation Cup |
| 8 | Difaâ El Jadidi | 30 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 30 | 32 | −2 | 39 | |
| 9 | FUS Rabat | 30 | 8 | 14 | 8 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 38 | |
| 10 | Rapide Oued Zem | 30 | 7 | 16 | 7 | 28 | 31 | −3 | 37 | |
| 11 | Olympique Khouribga | 30 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 38 | 42 | −4 | 36 | |
| 12 | Mouloudia Oujda | 30 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 31 | 38 | −7 | 35 | |
| 13 | Moghreb Tétouan | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 29 | 32 | −3 | 34 | |
| 14 | AS FAR | 30 | 7 | 12 | 11 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 33 | |
| 15 | Kawkab Marrakesh (R) | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 34 | 40 | −6 | 30 | Relegation to Botola 2 |
| 16 | Chabab Rif Al Hoceima (R) | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 27 | 51 | −24 | 27 | Relegation to Botola 2 |
* 1 2 Head-to-head: Hassania Agadir: 3 points, +2 GD; Olympic Safi: 3 points, −2 GD.
* ↑ Wydad Casablanca and Raja Casablanca are also participated in the Arab Club Champions Cup.
* 1 2 3 Head-to-head: Youssoufia Berrechid: 7 points, RS Berkane 5 points, Difaâ El Jadidi 3 points.
* ↑ RS Berkane are Moroccan Throne Cup winners.

## Results

| Home \ Away | WAC | RCA | HUSA | OCS | IRT | CAYB | RSB | DHJ | FUS | RCOZ | OCK | MCO | MAT | FAR | KACM | CRA |
| Wydad AC | — | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 6–1 |
| Raja CA | 0–1 | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 6–0 |
| HUS Agadir | 2–1 | 0–0 | — | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 5–1 | 1–0 |
| OC Safi | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| IR Tanger | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | — | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| CAY Berrechid | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| RS Berkane | 3–2 | 3–7 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| DH Jadidi | 1–1 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Fath US | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| RC Oued Zem | 0–0 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| OC Khouribga | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | — | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| MC Oujda | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| MA Tétouan | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 4–1 | — | 0–0 | 1–4 | 2–1 |
| AS FAR | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 3–4 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | 0–2 | 3–0 |
| KAC Marrakesh | 3–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 |
| CR Al Hoceima | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–4 | 1–0 | — |

## Season statistics
### Top goalscorers

    As of 11 June 2019.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Mouhcine Iajour | Raja CA | 19 |
| 1 | Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba | RS Berkane | 19 |
| 3 | Koffi Boua | OC Safi | 14 |
| 4 | Simon Msuva | DH Jadidi | 13 |
| 5 | Khalid Hachadi | OC Khouribga | 12 |
| 6 | Reda Hajhouj | OC Khouribga | 11 |
| 7 | N'Tji Amadou Samake | KAC Marrakesh | 10 |
| 8 | Mehdi Naghmi | IR Tanger | 9 |
| 9 | Zakaria Hadraf | Raja CA | 8 |
| 9 | Abdoulaye Diarra | RC Oued Zem | 8 |
| 9 | Michael Babatunde | Wydad AC | 8 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Round |
| Mouhssine Iajour | Raja CA | DH Jadidi | 4–2 (A) | 30 January 2019 | 15 |
| Koffi Boua | OC Safi | DH Jadidi | 3–2 (H) | 9 March 2019 | 21 |
| Zakaria Hadraf | Raja CA | RS Berkane | 7–3 (A) | 13 March 2019 | 21 |
| Reda Hajhouj | OC Khouribga | OC Safi | 4–4 (H) | 27 April 2019 | 26 |
(H) – Home; (A) – Away

## Annual awards

The UMFP (Union Marocaine des Footballeurs Professionnels), in partnership with the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, organized the Night of Stars Award in its 5th edition, which celebrated the brilliants of the Botola Pro for the 2018/19 season.
| Award | Winner | Club |
| Manager of the Season | Faouzi Benzarti | Wydad AC |
| Player of the Season | Mohamed Aziz | RS Berkane |
| Foreign Player of the Season | Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba | RS Berkane |
| Promising Player of the Season | Soufiane Karkache | MC Oujda |
| Goalkeeper of the Season | Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti | Wydad AC |

## Attendances

| # | Football club | Average attendance |
| 1 | IR Tanger | 17,877 |
| 2 | Wydad AC | 17,393 |
| 3 | AS FAR | 15,700 |
| 4 | Raja CA | 15,038 |
| 5 | Hassania Agadir | 10,970 |
| 6 | Olympique Safi | 10,284 |
| 7 | MA Tétouan | 9,727 |
| 8 | KACM | 9,433 |
| 9 | Olympique Khouribga | 8,130 |
| 10 | RC Oued Zem | 6,573 |
| 11 | DHJ | 5,750 |
| 12 | MC Oujda | 5,664 |
| 13 | CRA | 5,281 |
| 14 | Youssoufia Berrechid | 5,125 |
| 15 | RS Berkane | 4,700 |
| 16 | Fath Union Sport | 3,533 |