Tanger,
also
known
as
IR
Tanger,
play
in
the
Botola
–
the
top
flight
of
Moroccan
league
football
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Two
footballers
from
Moroccan
top-flight
club
Ittihad
Tanger,
Abdellatif
Akhrif,
24,
and
Salman
El-Harrak,
18,
are
missing
at
sea
after
a
yacht
incident
off
the
northern
coast
near
M’diq.
The
incident
occurred
on
Saturday
during
a
team
excursion.
Three
others
–
club
employee
Oussama
Aflah
and
reserve
team
players
Soumaimane
Dahdouh
and
Abdelhamid
Maali
–
were
rescued.
According
to
Aflah,
the
group
encountered
strong
winds
and
rough
seas
while
swimming
close
to
shore,
causing
them
to
drift
away
from
the
boat.
He
confirmed
that
they
had
life
jackets
on
board
but
were
not
wearing
them
while
swimming.
“Everything
was
normal
–
we
woke
up,
had
breakfast
and
rented
a
boat
from
the
marina,”
he
said.
“On
our
way
out
to
sea,
we
were
even
stopped
by
the
coastguard
who
made
sure
our
papers
were
in
order
and
that
we
had
life
jackets.
“Everything
was
fine
and
we
were
swimming
within
sight
of
the
shore
and
just
a
few
metres
from
the
boat
before
the
sea
completely
changed
and
heavy
winds
took
us
away
from
the
boat.”
Search
efforts
are
ongoing,
and
club
president
Mohamed
Cherkaoui
has
appealed
for
responsible
media
coverage.
Ittihad
Tanger,
a
club
based
in
the
top
league
since
2015
and
boasting
a
league
title
win
in
2017-18,
are
understandably
shaken
by
this
tragic
event.