Moroccan lawyers sue BeIN Sports journalist Hafid Derradji for 'insulting Moroccan women'

Moroccan lawyers have filed a complaint against Algerian BeIN Sports journalist Hafid Derradji for allegedly insulting Moroccan women using "slanderous terms".

"The Lawyers Club submitted a complaint against the journalist Hafid Derradji, addressed to the Qatari Attorney General, Dr. Issa bin Saad Al-Juffali Al-Nuaimi, to initiate the criminal case under the requirements of Article 8 of the Anti-Cybercrime Law," tweeted the president of the club Mourad Elajoti. 

Following Algeria's football team's defeat against Ivory Coast in AFCON, an alleged leaked conversation between Derradji and a Moroccan follower blew up on social media.

The screenshot pictured Derraji responding angrily to the follower’s jokes about Algeria's loss, while stigmatising Moroccan women as "prostitutes".

Derradji has denied the allegations.

However, Moroccans took to social media under the Arabic hashtag #FireHafidDerraji to call on the Qatari sports station to fire the widely known sports commentator after the alleged statements.

Moroccan lawyers club said Derradji may face up to three years in jail or/and a fine of QAR100,000 ($27,465), according to Article 8 of the Qatari Cybercrime Law.

Derradji has also been a vocal critic of the controversial 2020 normalisation deal between Morocco and Israel.

This was signed in 2020 as part of US-brokered deal allegedly in return for recognising Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region.

The Algerian sports journalist had subsequently received online criticism for his stance from Moroccan social media users.