Moroccan footballer dies while attempting to swim to Spanish enclave Ceuta

Fatin Ben Homar Azizi, a 26-year-old footballer from Tétouan, drowned while swimming toward the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in late July. Her mother, Jamila Afelom, recognized the body by a necklace she had given her before the attempt and later saw it at a hospital in Fnideq. Azizi had trained with coach Adel El Kaab at Moghreb one outlet Tétouan and later joined Moghreb Atletico Tanger, viewing football as an escape from poverty.

She had already tried to cross the border once before and, like many peers, hoped Europe would offer a better future. Her death came as an estimated 80,000 people crowded the Fnideq border area, and human-rights groups report at least 141 fatalities in the same period.