Ali Bendayan

Ali Bendayan was born in 1943 in Casablanca's old medina. He attended College Jules Ferry and played for small neighbourhood teams before joining Raja Club Athletic's football school in 1960. Pere Jego's staff visited his parents to secure the enrolment. Coached by Abdelkader Jalal, he progressed from the minimes to the cadets as a centre-forward. Friends and teammates coined the nickname Aliouate from his first name, and it stuck for the rest of his life.

His formal schooling at College Jules Ferry in Casablanca ran alongside street and district football. Structured football education began at Raja's academy under Abdelkader Jalal after 1960. There is no public record of university study; his path from the old medina pitches into the professional Botola was shaped by club coaching rather than a separate sporting institute.

Bendayan entered Raja's first team in 1963 under Pere Jego, who moved him to left wing because of his small frame. He scored a debut brace against Kawkab Marrakech and helped engineer a famous comeback from 0-3 to 4-3 against Hassania Agadir. With Houmane Jarir and Said Ghandi he formed a feared attacking trio. He scored the Throne Cup quarter-final winner against Wydad in 1964-65, lost Throne Cup finals in 1965 and 1968, and finished league runner-up in 1965-66. In 1968-69 he spent a title-winning season at Wydad before returning to Raja. He retired in 1971 amid the club's internal governance crisis.

Public obituaries describe Bendayan as a Casablanca native whose life remained closely tied to the city and to Raja. Detailed accounts of marriage, children, or later private occupation were not made public in the FRMF notice or major Moroccan sports reports of September 2026. The federation's condolences were addressed to his family and close circle without naming relatives in the published communiques.

Bendayan left few recorded political or philosophical statements. His public identity was that of a club man who returned to Raja after a championship year at Wydad and who stayed clear of the factional fighting that split the club around 1969-70. Former teammates later remembered him for kindness on and off the pitch. His career spanned an era when Moroccan club football and the national team were still building continental and Olympic credentials.

He is remembered as the first Raja player to score for Morocco, as a starter at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and as one third of the Jarir-Ghandi-Aliouate forward line that defined Raja and the Atlas Lions in the mid-1960s. Raja fans and Moroccan sports media framed his death as the loss of a pioneer from the club's formative Botola years. Funeral coverage in Casablanca showed former players gathering at Rahma cemetery, and FRMF president Fouzi Lekjaa issued official condolences on behalf of the federation.

Club: Moroccan championship winner with Wydad Athletic Club in 1968-69; Moroccan championship runner-up with Raja in 1965-66; Throne Cup finalist with Raja in 1965 and 1968. International: 28 caps and 11 goals for Morocco (1963-1969); Olympic football tournament, Tokyo 1964; Mediterranean Games, Tunis 1967. Individual recognition in the modern awards sense was limited; his standing rests on pioneering caps, the Raja-to-national-team scoring first, and lasting popular memory as Aliouate.

Moroccan sports press, including Le 360 Sport, H24info, L'Opinion, Lodj, InfoSports and Anfas Press, covered his death extensively in late September 2026. Arabic-language television and YouTube channels aired funeral footage, veteran interviews, and career retrospectives. French and English Wikipedia entries, Olympedia, and National Football Teams list him under Ali Bendayan / Ali Ben Dayan / Aliouate. Archival match film from the 1960s remains scarce online; most circulating video is tribute and funeral material from 2026.

His 1968-69 move to Wydad, Raja's historic rival, was a rare early example of a Casablanca derby transfer and drew attention at the time, though he returned to Raja the following season. He was not a principal actor in the Raja governance split of 1969-70; sources stress that he kept apart from the factions and retired as the club reunified. No criminal or disciplinary scandal dominates his public record in the major obituaries.

Ali Bendayan died in Casablanca on Monday 28 September 2026 at the age of 83. The Royal Moroccan Football Federation announced the death and published condolences from president Fouzi Lekjaa on behalf of the executive committee. Reports placed his final illness in a Casablanca clinic. He was buried at Rahma cemetery in Casablanca, with former Raja players among the mourners. Cause of death was not made public in the federation notice or leading sports obituaries.