Mustapha Khalfi (born 1 January 1980) is a Moroccan professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He currently plays for the AS Salé club of the FIBA Africa Club Champions Cup and the Nationale 1, Morocco's first division.

Biography

Born in

Derb Sultan Derb Sultan (Arabic: درب السلطان) is one of the largest and oldest neighborhoods in Casablanca. It is part of the prefecture of district Al Fida-Mers Sultan. It is known for being one of the cradles of colonial resistance against the ...

( Casablanca) in 1980, Mustapha started playing basketball in 1990 thanks to his father ''Bouchaïb Khalfi'' who was a former basketball player and a trainer of

Raja Casablanca Raja Club Athletic ( ar, نادي الرجاء الرياضي, Nādī ar-Rajāʾ ar-Riyāḍī, zgh, ⴰⵙⵔⵉⵔ ⵏ ⵕⴰⵊⴰ ⴰⵎⴰⵏⵓⵏ), commonly referred to as Raja CA, Raja Casablanca or simply RCA is a professional footb ...

(basketball section), so Mustapha was formed by Raja CA and he joined the first team in 2001. Mustapha Khalfi (nicknamed ''Kachkoucha'' by fans of the club) won with this team several titles at national level and was selected for the first time to the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

in 2002. An excellent playmaker despite his small size, El Khalfi is considered among the legends of Raja CA Basketball who witnessed the club's golden age. Since 2005, he participates five times in AfroBasket where he plays 38 matches. Also Mustapha El Khalfi becomes captain of the national team. El Khalfi becomes the ambassador of the international sportswear brand Peak Sports. In 2015, he signed a partnership contract with

Peak Sport Products Peak Sport Products Co., Limited () is a Chinese manufacturing company of sportswear and footwear based in Quanzhou. Founded in 1989 as a shoe manufacturer, the company was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2009, however due to low per ...

to associate his image with the brand. Mustapha Khalfi therefore joins

Tony Parker William Anthony Parker Jr. (born 17 May 1982) is a French-American former professional basketball player and majority owner of ASVEL Basket in LNB Pro A. Himself the son of a basketball pro, Parker started his career at Paris Basket Racing in ...

and other international basketball stars playing in the American NBA, in France and in Europe who are already ambassadors of the brand. This partnership with a Moroccan player is a first in Morocco. No similar contract has been signed so far with a Moroccan basketball player, Moroccan agency Sport Management said. The basketball player received in 2016 the prize for the best sportsman in Morocco. He represented

Morocco's national basketball team The Morocco national basketball team represents Morocco in international basketball competitions. The team is governed by the Moroccan Royal Basketball Federation, also known as the FRMBB. The team has appeared at the FIBA AfroBasket 20 times and ...

at the

2017 AfroBasket FIBA AfroBasket 2017 was the 29th edition of the AfroBasket, a men's basketball continental championship of Africa. The tournament was jointly hosted by Tunisia and Senegal. Angola was proposed by FIBA Africa to host the tournament, an offer dec ...

in Tunisia and

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

. At the end of the African basketball championship of 2017, Mustapha Khalfi announces that he will retire internationally, according to the official website of the

FIBA Africa FIBA Africa is a zone within the FIBA basketball association which contains all 54 national African FIBA federations. It was founded in 1961. FIBA Africa maintains offices in Cairo and in Abidjan. Members FIBA World Rankings Overview ...

. The captain of the Moroccan national basketball team played his last matches in this final championship. "''This FIBA AfroBasket is likely to be the last one for half of our national team, including me. So I'll fight and do everything in my power in order to finish on a positive note''" , Khalfi announced. The 37-year-old guard played basketball for twelve years participating five times to the FIBA Afrobasket, he say : "''I feel honored and proud for what I've given to the national team over the years''".

References

External links

FIBA profile

Real GM profile

Afrobasket.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khalfi, Mustapha 1980 births Living people Point guards Moroccan men's basketball players Sportspeople from Casablanca AS Salé (basketball) players