Botola Pro Team Expansion Plan Scrapped
Morocco’s top-flight league will remain a 16-team competition for the 2026/27 season after plans to expand the Botola Pro to 20 clubs were officially abandoned.
The Moroccan National Professional Football League (LNFP) has confirmed that the proposed expansion of the Botola Pro from 16 to 20 teams will not go ahead this season.
The decision follows a meeting of professional clubs to determine the future format of the competition.
Interestingly, the expansion proposal received majority support, with 17 clubs voting in favour and seven against. Despite the vote, the required conditions for the reform to be implemented were not met.
Botola sticks with current format
The LNFP has now confirmed that the 2026/27 season will continue under the existing structure.
The Botola Pro will therefore feature 16 clubs, while a further 16 teams will compete in Botola 2.
The league had been considering expansion as part of plans to reshape the Moroccan professional football pyramid, but the proposal will now have to wait.
“The LNFP has thus put an end to the speculation by officially announcing that the competitions of the 2026-2027 season will be organized according to the format currently in force,” the league said.
Draw date confirmed
With the expansion plans shelved, attention now turns towards the new season.
The Botola Pro 2026/27 draw is scheduled for Friday, 28 August, at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Maâmoura.
The decision means Morocco’s top flight will begin the campaign with the familiar 16-team format, rather than the expanded league that had been under consideration.
