Pétanque in Morocco

Morocco is one of Africa's most decorated pétanque nations on the world stage, with three Men's Triples World Championship titles to its name. The sport's deep roots trace back to Morocco's historical ties with France, and it is played passionately in parks and public squares from Casablanca to Marrakech, Rabat, and Fes.

History

The Fédération Royale Marocaine de Pétanque (FRMP) was established in the late 1950s, and Morocco was one of the nations present at the birth of the FIPJP. According to the FIPJP's own history, the foundations of the international federation were laid in 1957 at an international tournament in Spa, Belgium, with delegates from Belgium, France, Morocco (Mr Danielli), Monaco, Switzerland, and Tunisia, and the federation was formally created a few months later, on 8 March 1958 in Marseille, by which time Spain had also joined. That founding status placed Morocco at the heart of international pétanque from the sport's earliest organized days, and the national team went on to become one of the strongest forces outside France. Casablanca has hosted the Men's Triples World Championship three times, in 1963, 1973, and 1985.

World Championship Success

Morocco has won the Men's Triples World Championship three times: 1984, 1987, and 1990. The 1984 title came in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and the 1990 title in Monaco, and the run of results through the late 1980s, including silver medals in 1986, 1987 (when Morocco had two teams on the podium), 1988, and 1989, made Morocco the dominant non-French power in the sport during that era. In all, Morocco ranks fourth on the all-time Men's Triples medal table with 3 gold, 9 silver, and 3 bronze; its earliest podiums were silver and bronze on home ground in Casablanca in 1963, and in 1998 in Maspalomas it reached the final again, losing to France.

Morocco's first individual world title came in 2008, when Abdessamad El Mankari won the World Precision Shooting Championship at the 44th World Championships in Dakar, Senegal (12-16 November 2008), defeating Senegal's François Fara Ndiaye in the final. Morocco's precision-shooting record stands at one gold and three bronze medals, with El Mankari also on the podium in 2007 (Pattaya) and Hicham Boulassal in 2018 (Desbiens, Canada).

African Championships

Morocco is a perennial power at the continental level. The country hosted the African Nations Pétanque Championship in Casablanca in 2013, and won the men's title at the 8th African Nations Championship in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (5-7 November 2021), first eliminating Algeria 13-6 in the semifinal before beating the host nation 13-6 in the final, to qualify for the following year's World Championship in Benin. The title-winning squad of Khaled Bennar, Omar Al-Saghir, Youssef Al-Saghir, and Hamza Kharbouch was coached by Abdellatif Laouija. Morocco returned to the host role in Marrakech (6-9 June 2024), staging the 9th men's and 2nd women's African Championships with 15 nations in the men's events and 7 in the women's; the event doubled as a qualifier for the 2024 World Championship in Dijon, France, and for the 2026 Women's World Championship. The men's title was won by Senegal, who beat Tunisia 13-2 in the final, with Morocco sharing bronze with Benin. On the women's side, Soukaina Gourar won African gold in precision shooting, beating Tunisia's Mouna Béji 48-28 in the final, and Morocco's women's B team took triples silver after losing the final 13-2 to Tunisia.

Mediterranean Games

At the 2022 Mediterranean Games in Oran, Algeria, Morocco won two pétanque medals: silver in men's doubles for Lhoussain Akbas and Mohamed Bajjioui, who lost the final to France's Lucas Desport and Yohan Cousin, and bronze in women's precision shooting for Karima Ghariz.

The Moroccan Pétanque Scene

The FRMP organizes the sport through regional leagues covering the country's major cities, with the strongest activity concentrated in Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakech, and Fes. Public boulodromes and informal games in parks and squares remain the sport's everyday face in Morocco, feeding a competitive pipeline that has repeatedly produced continental and world-class results.

Federation Contact & Regional Leagues

The FRMP is headquartered at 150, Cité OLM Souissi 2, Rabat 10020, and can be reached by email at frmpma@gmail.com. Khalid El Mansouri (also written Khalid Mansouri) was elected FRMP president unopposed at the federation's general assembly in Rabat in February 2020, for a four-year term renewable once, succeeding Mahmoud Archane, who had served two terms. The FRMP counts roughly 13,000 licensed players across 240 clubs, organized into 9 regional leagues: Chaouia (Casablanca), Centre (Rabat), Nord-Ouest (Tangier), Atlas-Saiss (Fes), Tafilalt (Errachidia), Souss-Sahara (Agadir), Oriental (Oujda), Tensift-Sud (Youssoufia), and Tadla Oum-Rabia (Beni Mellal) - giving the sport an organized presence in every major region of the country.

Mansouri's predecessor continued his federation career at the continental level after leaving the FRMP: on 23 May 2026, Mahmoud Archane was elected president of the Confédération Africaine du Sport de la Pétanque (CASP) at an assembly in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, receiving all 19 votes cast by member-federation representatives as the sole candidate. He succeeds Senegal's Brahim Darwich (Derwiche Brahim), who had resigned, after a period in which vice-president Louly Mohamed Lemine led the confederation on an interim basis. The vote came just two days after a 21 May 2026 Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling restored recognition to the original Confédération Africaine des Sports Boules (CASB) leadership, which remains under its long-serving president, Idrissou Ibrahima of Benin - leaving the confederation split between two rival leaderships as of September 2026, with no public sign of reconciliation. The same dispute also touches several other African federations (see our Zambia, Uganda, and Mali profiles for the fuller timeline).

National Competition Calendar

The FRMP's annual domestic program includes the Championnat du Maroc Seniors, Championnat du Maroc Dames, and Championnat du Maroc Juniors, alongside the Coupe du Trône (men's and women's), the Trophée Hassan II, the Coupe Marche Verte, and an Inter-Ligues tournament between the federation's 9 regional leagues. The federation's official "Calendriers des compétitions" page, published each season on frmp.ma, is the authoritative source for exact dates.

Club Directory

Beyond casual play in public parks, several named clubs anchor organized pétanque across Morocco's regional leagues:

• Club Royal de la Pétanque - Casablanca (Chaouia league). Partners directly with the FRMP on marquee national events; co-organized the inaugural "24h de la Pétanque de Casablanca," a 24-hour marathon tournament held 17-18 July 2021 at the Al Amal Sports Complex, drawing 17 triplettes, including a squad of five former world champions and teams representing each of the FRMP's 9 regional leagues.
• Cercle Amical Français de Casablanca (CAFC) - a private social club at 109, avenue Omar El Khayam, Quartier Beauséjour, Casablanca, that runs a dedicated pétanque/boules activity among its sports sections.
• Association Sportive d'Agadir (ASA) - Souss-Sahara league. Founded in 1972 in Agadir's Talborjt quarter, with its clubhouse and courts on Rue Sidi Sahnoun rebuilt by the municipal council in 1996; today counts more than 180 Moroccan and foreign members across pétanque and three other sections (hunting, fishing, and chess). Under the joint auspices of the FRMP and the Ligue du Souss-Sahara, ASA has hosted the men's Championnat du Maroc at its home grounds, drawing dozens of triplettes representing every regional league.
• Nadi Rijal Al-Talim lil-Kourat Al-Hadidiya (Men's Teachers' Steel-Ball Club) - Oujda, representing the Oriental league in the country's east.
• Tanger Accueil - a Tangier-based community association for French-speaking residents that runs pétanque as a regular recreational activity alongside its other sports and social programs.

Where to Play

Casablanca, Rabat, and Marrakech are also home to leisure venues branded "Pétanque Social Club" (in Marrakech's Gueliz district and on Rabat's Avenue Annakhil) that combine dining with pétanque courts for casual, social play - distinct from the FRMP-affiliated competitive clubs listed above. Beyond these, pickup games remain common in Casablanca's public parks, Rabat's Agdal district, and Marrakech's Gueliz neighborhood. For the latest fixtures and club contacts, the federation's official channels remain the best starting point, though as of this writing frmp.ma itself is intermittently unreachable (returning a hosting-suspension notice rather than the live site).