Wydad Faces Crisis as FAR Rabat Hijacks Karmoun Deal

Wydad’s turbulent summer took another sharp turn as rivals FAR Rabat swept in to hijack the signing of defender Ferji Karmoun, piling sporting frustration on top of a mounting legal and financial mess in Casablanca.

The red club thought they had done the hard work. They moved early for Karmoun, secured the player’s approval and reached an understanding with Olympic Safi. A deal looked close. Then FAR Rabat arrived.

The military club, rebuilding a back line stripped of Yunis Abdelhamid and Nouh El Abd, stepped into the negotiations and immediately changed the temperature of the talks. Their offer was simple: more money on the table than Wydad could muster.

The pressure finally told. Karmoun’s expected move to Wydad collapsed, and the race for his signature reopened.

According to Moroccan outlet “Sport7”, Olympic Safi reacted quickly to the new dynamic. With two heavyweights in direct competition, they chose to raise their demands and made it clear that Karmoun will join whichever club submits the strongest financial proposal. For Wydad, already operating under the shadow of a transfer ban, it was another blow to their attempts to reshape the squad.

FIFA rulings tighten the noose

The bad news did not stop at the transfer market. FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber has issued a fresh ruling against Wydad in a case involving a former foreign player, adding yet another layer to the club’s legal troubles.

That latest decision takes the tally of final FIFA rulings against Wydad to five. Each one must be settled in full if the club is to lift its transfer ban and register any of the new recruits it hopes to bring in.

President Brahim El Assri now finds himself racing the clock. He inherited a minefield of disputes from the previous administration led by Hicham Ait Menna, a legacy of unpaid dues and contentious exits that has dragged Wydad into repeated legal battles.

“Sport7” reports that the club must now resolve five separate files with FIFA, on top of more than seven cases lodged with the National Disputes Committee. Every unresolved case is another obstacle between Wydad and a clean slate before the new season.

Fight to keep Benabid

Amid the chaos, El Assri is also trying to protect what Wydad still has. Chief among the priorities: keeping goalkeeper El Mehdi Benabid.

The club has entered advanced talks with the shot-stopper in an effort to secure a contract renewal and fend off any potential suitors. Moroccan website “Le360 Sport” reports that Wydad have already moved to settle all of Benabid’s outstanding financial dues, then followed up with a fresh proposal for him to stay.

The ball is now in the goalkeeper’s court, with a final decision expected in the coming days. His choice will say plenty about how players inside the dressing room view Wydad’s immediate future.

Behind the scenes, El Assri continues to work through what has been described as a tangle of files left from the previous era. Several players have taken their complaints to the disputes committee, either to recover unpaid sums or to push for unilateral termination of their contracts.

The clock is ticking. Wydad must clear the legal backlog, lift the transfer ban and somehow strengthen a squad already losing ground in the market. As FAR Rabat move aggressively and Olympic Safi wait for the highest bidder, the question hangs over Casablanca: can Wydad sort out the boardroom battles in time to compete on the pitch?