The stadium lights were bright. The energy was electric. Morocco was about to kick off the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 against Comoros. But something felt wrong. When I heard the stadium speaker announce it, I couldn't believe my ears—8,000 empty seats.
Eight thousand! For the opening match of CAN 2025! This wasn't a guess or a rough estimate. The stadium speaker made it official. And here's the strange part: the ticketing website showed zero available tickets. Everything was sold out. So where was everyone?
The Mystery of the Morocco Comoros Match Empty Seats
Good start. Now I need to explain what happened in Hassan's simple, clear style. Let me continue with the reasons.
When tickets sell out but thousands of seats stay empty, something has gone very wrong. The Morocco Comoros match empty seats problem showed us three big issues with how football tickets work in Morocco.
Let me share what really happened that night.
Stuck at the Border: Fans Who Never Made It
The first problem hit hard at Morocco's borders. Hundreds of supporters tried to enter Morocco through Algeciras in Spain and Melilla on the Mediterranean coast. These fans had tickets. They had passion. They had everything except one thing—they couldn't get through in time.
Border crossings into Morocco can be slow, especially when thousands of people are traveling for a big event. The lines grew longer. The hours passed. Some fans watched the kickoff time come and go while they were still waiting at customs.
I've crossed these borders many times. On normal days, you might wait 30 minutes. But during festivals, holidays, or major events like CAN 2025? You can wait three or four hours. These supporters did everything right—they bought tickets, they traveled to Morocco, but they never reached the stadium.
Their seats sat empty. Not because they didn't want to be there, but because they physically couldn't arrive.
Sponsors and Partners: Reserved But Not Used
The second reason makes me shake my head. Big companies and official partners get special ticket allocations for major matches. It's normal practice. These sponsors receive hundreds, sometimes thousands of tickets as part of their partnership deals.
But here's the problem: they don't always use them all.
Some sponsors take their quota of 500 tickets but only bring 300 guests. What happens to the other 200? In theory, they should redistribute them. Sell them back to the public. Give them to employees. Something.
Instead, many of these tickets just vanished. They stayed in the sponsors' allocation but nobody sat in those seats. When you add up all the sponsors and partners with unused allocations, you start seeing where those empty seats came from.
This happens at many big events around the world, but it feels especially frustrating when regular Moroccan fans couldn't buy tickets at all.
The Black Market Problem That Backfired
Now the third reason - ticket scalping. This is the most frustrating one according to the document.
The third reason? This one makes my blood boil a little.
Ticket scalpers bought hundreds of tickets with no intention of using them. Their plan was simple: buy low, sell high. They grabbed tickets when they first went on sale, then tried to resell them on the black market for crazy prices.
How crazy? Some tickets were being sold for €1,000. One thousand euros! For a single ticket to a football match!
Here's what these scalpers didn't expect: nobody wanted to pay those prices. Moroccan fans are passionate, yes, but most people aren't going to spend a month's salary on one ticket. The scalpers sat on their tickets, hoping someone would cave and pay the inflated price.
Nobody did.
Match day arrived. The scalpers still had tickets they couldn't sell. But they also couldn't use them—they never wanted to attend in the first place. So those seats stayed empty. Tickets bought as investments, not as ways to watch football, created more of the Morocco Comoros match empty seats problem.
The Rain Didn't Help Appearances
During the match, heavy rain poured down on the stadium. I need to mention this because it might have looked even worse on television. When people rushed to find shelter from the rain, even more seats appeared empty.
But here's an important detail: those people seeking cover from the rain don't count in the official 8,000 empty seats number. The speaker's announcement was about tickets that were sold but seats that stayed empty all night, rain or shine.
The weather just made the optics worse for anyone watching at home.
A Simple Solution That Wasn't Used
The frustrating part? There was an easy fix for all of this.
Create an official ticket resale system through the main ticketing website. Let people who can't attend sell their tickets to people who desperately want to go. Make it legal, safe, and transparent.
Good, now I need to wrap this up with Hassan's friendly, engaging style and invite discussion. Let me make it conversational and inclusive.
If sponsors realize they won't use all their allocations, they could release them back into the system. If fans get stuck at the border or have emergencies, they could resell their tickets officially instead of losing their money. If scalpers see there's a legitimate resale market at fair prices, the black market loses its power.
Many countries and sports events use official resale platforms. They work. They keep stadiums full. They keep prices reasonable.
For an opening match of the Africa Cup of Nations—one of football's biggest continental tournaments—Morocco deserved a completely packed stadium. The atmosphere should have been deafening. Every seat should have had a passionate fan.
Instead, we got 8,000 reminders that the ticketing system needs fixing.
What This Means for Future Matches
Morocco loves football. Walk through any neighborhood in Casablanca, Marrakech, or Tangier during a national team match and you'll see people crowded around televisions in cafes, shouting at every play. The passion is real.
When fans can't get tickets but seats stay empty, something is broken. It's not about the fans. It's about the system.
As Morocco continues to host major sporting events—and with the 2030 World Cup on the horizon—these lessons matter. Border crossings need to handle big event traffic better. Sponsors need to actually use or release their allocations. And most importantly, an official ticket resale system needs to exist.
Football matches are for fans, not for empty seats.
What do you think? Have you ever tried to get tickets for a major match in Morocco? Share your experience in the comments below. Have you dealt with border delays coming into Morocco for an event? Or maybe you've seen ticket scalpers trying to sell at ridiculous prices? I'd love to hear your stories.
And if you're planning to attend sporting events in Morocco, check out our guide to Morocco's major stadiums and tips for attending football matches in Moroccan cities. These resources can help you avoid the problems that created all those Morocco Comoros match empty seats.