But for the demonstrators who have taken to the streets each night across the country since Saturday, this 115,000-capacity showpiece and all the other football infrastructure in development, costing a reported USD 5bn (3.7bn pound), are an affront - an example of a government that has got its priorities wrong. "I am protesting because I want my country to be better. I don't want to leave Morocco, and I don't want to resent my country for choosing to stay," says Hajar Belhassan, a 25-year-old communications manager from Settat, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Casablanca. A group called Gen Z 212 - the number is a reference to the country's international dialling code - has been coordinating the demonstrations through the gaming and streaming platform Discord, as well as TikTok and Instagram. Apparently taking inspiration from Nepal's recent Gen Z protests, the young Moroccans want the authorities to act with the same urgency and passion when it comes to addressing these issues as with hosting one of the world's premier sporting events. Starting on 27 September with protests across 10 cities, the crowds have been building through the week, chanting slogans such as: "No World Cup, health comes first" and "We want hospitals not football stadiums".

The police have responded with seemingly arbitrary mass arrests and in certain places things have turned violent, leading to the death of three protesters. Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch said on Thursday that he was open to dialogue, but the leaderless movement has vowed to keep going until there is concrete change.

Anger had been growing, but what galvanised the movement was the death over a number of days in mid-September of eight women in a maternity ward of a hospital in the southern city of Agadir. There were some reports that the deaths could have been prevented if there had been better care, proper equipment and enough medical staff. In 2023, it was estimated that there were 7.8 doctors per 10,000 Moroccans, way below the World Health Organization recommendation of 23 per 10,000.  (BBC)