Merouane Zemmama

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Personal information
Merouane Zemmama
Full name	Merouane Zemmama
Date of birth	October 7, 1983 (1983-10-07) (age 24)
Place of birth	Salé, Morocco
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	Hibernian
Number	7
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1999-2001 2001-2006 2004-2005 2006-	Chabab Tabriquet Raja Casablanca →Qatar SC (loan) Hibernian	051 00(8)
National team²
2004-	Morocco Under-23s
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 9, 2008. ² National team caps and goals correct as of May 9, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Merouane Zemmama (born October 7, 1983) is a Moroccan football player who currently plays for the Scottish Premier League club Hibernian. He joined from Raja Casablanca in August 2006. Zemmama represented his country at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

1 Hibernian career
- 1.1 Transfer dispute
2 Notes
3 External links

[edit] Hibernian career

The diminutive playmaker Zemmama made his debut for Hibernian on 12 August 2006 in a 0-0 draw at Inverness. He was hailed by manager Tony Mowbray as a new Russell Latapy.^[1] His early performances excited the Hibernian fans.^[2]^[3] Zemmama scored his first goal for Hibs in the 2-2 draw with rivals Hearts on 15 October 2006.^[4] Zemmama finished the season tied for second in the league in assists with nine,^[5] despite missing two months' worth of games due to a hamstring injury.

[edit] Transfer dispute

On 20 August 2006 it was reported that Raja Casablanca were disputing the legality of Zemmama's transfer to Hibernian.^[6] Raja stated that the player had signed a contract with them until 2009, which would have precluded him from signing a contract with Hibernian. Rod Petrie refuted the claim that Zemmama had a contract with Raja.^[7]

The Moroccan Football Federation announced on August 30 that they had suspended the player pending an investigation into the transfer. FIFA then stated that the player could continue to be selected for Hibs during the investigation.^[8]

FIFA then stated that the main allegation - that the international transfer certificate had been forged - is a criminal matter, and they have therefore closed their investigation pending the outcome of enquiries by the Moroccan police.^[9]. Media reports have recently suggested that Hibs have paid a fee of €200,000 fee to Raja.^{[citation needed]}