Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi asks fans to stop whistling the team at Africa Cup

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Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi asks fans to stop whistling the team at Africa Cup

2025-12-28 21:58 Last Updated At：22:01

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi has appealed for the host nation’s supporters to stop whistling the team at the Africa Cup of Nations.

“It’s not normal for the supporters to whistle,” Hakimi said Sunday before Morocco’s final group game against Zambia on Monday. “We need that 12th man.”

The Moroccan players were subjected to whistles from the home fans at half time and again at full time after their disappointing 1-1 draw against Mali on Friday.

“We need the fans,” Hakimi said. “But we have to respect our rivals. They’re not easy opponents.”

Morocco, the highest ranked African team at No. 11, is considered the favorite for the 35th edition of the tournament after reaching the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup. The Atlas Lions have all their group games in the near 70,000-capacity Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, the capital, where they will also play their first knockout game should they finish top of their group.

“We know the fans want us to win all the time. Since the World Cup, there’s a new Morocco, but we mustn’t forget to keep our feet on the ground. Having the AFCON at home helps us, but it doesn’t make things easier. We need them behind us. And as for the criticism of the coach, he’s done a great job. He was with the team at the World Cup. He has changed mentalities, even mine.”

Morocco leads Group A with four points from two games, ahead of Mali and Zambia on two, with Comoros on one point before its final group game against Mali, also Monday.

The top two progress from each group, along with the best third-place finishers.

Hakimi referred to his experience with his club Paris Saint-Germain, where the players were also whistled before the team went on to win the Champions League in May.

“People told us we weren’t a great team. In the end, we’re European champions. So there you have it,” Hakimi said.

Morocco coach Walid Regragui said Hakimi will make his first appearance of the tournament against Zambia after recovering from an ankle injury, either as a starter or a substitute.

“He’s the best player in Africa,” Regragui said.

AP at the Africa Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-cup-of-nations

Polls open for Myanmar's first election since military seized power

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Voters went to the polls Sunday for the initial phase of Myanmar ’s first general election in five years, held under the supervision of its military government while a civil war rages throughout much of the country.

Final results will not be known until after two more rounds of voting are completed later in January. It is widely expected that Min Aung Hlaing, the general who has ruled the country with an iron hand since an army takeover in 2021, will then assume the presidency.

The military government has presented the vote as a return to electoral democracy, but its bid for legitimacy is marred by bans on formerly popular opposition parties and reports that soldiers have used threats to force voters to participate.

While more than 4,800 candidates from 57 parties are competing for seats in national and regional legislatures, only six are competing nationwide with the possibility to gain political clout in Parliament. The well-organized and funded Union Solidarity and Development Party, with its support from the military, is by far the strongest contender.

Voting is taking place in three phases, with Sunday’s first round being held in 102 of Myanmar’s 330 townships. The second phase will take place Jan. 11, and the third on Jan. 25. Final results are expected to be announced by February.

Critics charge that the election is designed to add a facade of legitimacy to military rule that began when the military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. It blocked her National League for Democracy party from serving a second term despite winning a landslide victory in the 2020 election.

They argue that the results will lack legitimacy due to the exclusion of major parties and limits on freedom of speech and an atmosphere of repression.

The expected victory of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party makes the nominal transition to civilian rule a chimera, say opponents of military rule and independent analysts.

“An election organized by a junta that continues to bomb civilians, jail political leaders, and criminalize all forms of dissent is not an election — it is a theater of the absurd performed at gunpoint,” Tom Andrews, the U.N.-appointed human rights expert for Myanmar, posted on X.

However, holding the election may provide an excuse for neighbors like China, India and Thailand to continue their support, claiming the election promotes stability. Western nations have maintained sanctions against Myanmar’s ruling generals due to their anti-democratic actions and the brutal war against their opponents.

Voters on Saturday expressed mixed feelings.

Khin Marlar, 51, who voted at a polling station in Yangon’s Kyauktada township, said she felt she needed to vote because she hoped that peace would follow afterward. She explained that she had fled her village in the town of Thaungta in the central Mandalay region due to the fighting.

“I am voting with the feeling that I will go back to my village when it is peaceful,” she told The Associated Press.

A resident of southern Mon state, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Khin, for fear of arrest by the military, told The Associated Press she felt compelled to go to a polling station because of pressure from local authorities.

“I have to go and vote even though I don’t want to, because soldiers showed up with guns to our village to pressure us yesterday,” Khin said. There were reports ahead of the voting from independent media and rights groups that officials and the military used such threats to compel people to vote.

Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s 80-year-old former leader, and her party are not participating in the polls. She is serving a 27-year prison term on charges widely viewed as spurious and politically motivated. Her party, the National League for Democracy, was dissolved in 2023 after refusing to register under new military rules.

Other parties also refused to register or declined to run under conditions they deem unfair, and opposition groups have called for a voter boycott.

Amael Vier, an analyst for the Asian Network for Free Elections, noted a lack of genuine choice, pointing out that 73% of voters in 2020 cast ballots for parties that no longer exist.

Mobilizing opposition is difficult under the military’s repression. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 22,000 people are currently detained for political offenses, and over 7,600 civilians have been killed by security forces since they seized power in 2021.

Armed resistance arose after the army used lethal force to crush non-violent protests against its 2021 takeover. The ensuing civil war has left more than 3.6 million people displaced, according to the U.N.

A new Election Protection Law imposes harsh penalties and restrictions for virtually all public criticism of the polls.

In these circumstances, both the military and its opponents believe power is likely to remain with Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who led the 2021 seizure of power.

Associated Press writer Peck reported from Bangkok.