Several Arab nations, including Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan—as well as numerous European and Asian countries—have outright banned 1XBET or taken repressive actions against it. And the list keeps growing year after year. The most recent example is Cairo, which ordered the immediate removal of the app from Google Play and Apple Store, striking swiftly and decisively, even though the Egyptian capital hosts the headquarters of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), where 1XBET ironically serves as an official sponsor. This contradiction highlights just how dangerous this app truly is.
In Morocco, however, 1XBET continues to proliferate in a bewildering legal gray area. The app, downloadable with a single click, floods social media, sponsors viral content, infiltrates club jerseys and stadiums through flashy billboards, and even employs well-known influencers to lure in the youth.
Beneath the surface of glamour and promises of easy money lies a machine of addiction. Teenagers, young adults, university students—even middle schoolers—are falling deeper each day into the illusion of instant wealth. Soon, the adrenaline rush of betting gives way to full-blown addiction, debt, and social marginalization. In Egypt, multiple crimes, thefts, and even suicides have been linked to this downward spiral.
1XBET operates without oversight, without licensing, and without transparent taxation. It’s a phantom company—opaque and unregulated—capturing vast sums of money that are transferred abroad, contributing to significant currency flight and undermining the economic sovereignty of the countries where it operates. Money that could support national sports or public infrastructure is instead funneled into offshore servers with complete impunity.
Beyond the economic threat, the danger is ethical, educational, and civilizational. The idea of easy money—without work, without merit—is quietly taking root in the minds of the youth. It kills the culture of effort, patience, and progress. It normalizes luck as the only path to success, and deceit as a way of life.
In the face of this destructive wave, Moroccan authorities can no longer remain silent. The State has a duty to protect its youth, to ban illegal apps, to prosecute their local promoters, and to demand that global platforms respect the country’s digital sovereignty.
Simultaneously, a national awareness campaign must be launched in schools, universities, and across media platforms to warn about the mechanisms of addiction these apps exploit. This is a generational challenge.
Allowing 1XBET to operate freely in Morocco is to sacrifice part of our youth on the altar of digital profit. It is to tolerate a new form of colonization—not by weapons, but through gambling, addiction, and ruin. The time has come to say no. The time has come to act.
Abderrazzak Boussaid/Le7tv