Morocco: 2 footballers lost at sea, says club official

Two Moroccan footballers from top-flight team Ittihad Tanger FC have been missing at sea since Saturday after strong currents carried away their small yacht, a club official said on Sunday.

They were in a group of five players from the club who went cruising off the northern city of Tangier when strong currents and heavy winds carried their yacht away as they were swimming in deep waters, club deputy president Anass Mrabet told Reuters.

“Three players were rescued on Saturday, while a search is still ongoing for the missing Salman Harraq and Abdellatif Akhrif,” he explained. The players did not have life vests on them when they jumped from the small yacht to swim, said the players who were rescued.

While Akhrif, 24, is already a full member of the squad, Harraq, 18, was about to move up to the senior team this year, added the club official.

Ittihad Tanger has been in the Moroccan top flight since 2015 and won the league title for the first and only time in its history in the 2017-18 season. However, the team has struggled in the lower half of the standings in recent years.

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