NT: Abderrazak Hamdallah Denies Receiving Invitation to Play with Morocco
By Morocco World News
In September, Hamdallah released a video on his Instagram, promising Moroccan fans to reveal why he left the training camp ahead of the African Cup of Nations.
Head coach of the Moroccan national football team Vahid Halilhodvic said that Moroccan football player Abderrazak Hamdallah refused his invitation to play with the Atlas Lions.
In a press conference on Wednesday, October 9, Halilhodvic said that Hamdallah had refused to join the Moroccan national team’s training camp ahead of the two friendly games against Gabon and Libya.
The coach said that Hamdallah, who plays for Saudi football club Al Nassr, was on the initial list.
“He told me that he does not want to play for the Moroccan team now.”
Halilhodvic added that members of the football team’s technical staff and former football player Mustafa Hajji had also contacted him.
“He is a player with a lot of great potential, but he also has many flaws,” the coach said.
It did not take much for the player to respond to Halilhovidc statements, stating that he had not received an invitation to play with Morocco.
On an Instagram story post, Hamdallah said that he “denies the news that he refused to [play] with the Moroccan national team as I have not received an invitation from the coach nor the Moroccan Football Federation [FRMF].”
In September, the football player promised to release a video to explain why he left the national team.
In June, Hamdallah left the training camp where the Moroccan team was training in preparation for the 2019 African Cup of Nation (CAN).
After his exit, the FRMF released a statement claiming that the football player left due to an injury.
The explanation raised questions among Moroccan football fans.
Several sports news outlets also said that the major cause of his exit was a rift with his teammate Faycal Fajr during a friendly match between Morocco and Gambia in June.
The new head coach said that he has been following Hamdallah during his latest games with Al Nassr.
“I saw his reactions in the latest games with his club, he received several [yellow] cards. This is negative for a football player.”
The coach said that he trusts the lineup he has for these two friendly games, including Amine Harit and Youssef En-nesyri.
Halilhodvic said that what happened with Hamdallah is similar to the case of Kevin Malcuit, a Moroccan-French football player.
Halilhovidc called Malcuit to join the Atlas Lions in the game, but he refused the invitation.