{"id":65046,"date":"2025-12-08T20:43:45","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T20:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot"},"modified":"2025-12-08T21:12:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T21:12:03","slug":"afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot","title":{"rendered":"AFCON Morocco 2025 Unveils Assad as Official Mascot"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. <\/strong> <\/span>With excitement rapidly building ahead of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) have officially unveiled the tournament\u2019s mascot \u2014 a vibrant and charismatic lion named Assad.<\/p>\n<p>Inspired by the Atlas Lion, one of Morocco\u2019s most revered national symbols, Assad represents strength, pride, and unity, embodying values that resonate deeply not just in Morocco but across the entire African continent.<\/p>\n<p>His name, \u201cAssad,\u201d which translates to \u201clion\u201d in Arabic, reflects the spirit of courage and cultural authenticity that the competition aims to showcase.<\/p>\n<p>CAF says Assad is more than just a symbolic figure \u2014 he is set to become one of the central pillars of fan engagement for AFCON 2025.<\/p>\n<p>As the ambassador of the tournament, the youthful and energetic lion will help drive excitement at stadiums, fan parks, and community events, fostering emotional connection among supporters of all ages.<\/p>\n<p>Special emphasis will be placed on children and families, who remain an essential part of football culture and its long-term growth.<\/p>\n<p>Assad\u2019s visual identity features a friendly, expressive lion designed to capture the warmth and creativity of African football culture.<\/p>\n<p>His colour palette and design elements are fully aligned with the AFCON 2025 branding, ensuring a cohesive and striking look for the competition\u2019s promotional material, digital platforms, and marketing campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the tournament itself, CAF has confirmed that Assad is built for longevity.<\/p>\n<p>He will remain active in future CAF programmes, including grassroots football projects, youth development initiatives, school outreach, and digital storytelling campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>His continued presence is expected to strengthen CAF\u2019s long-term brand narrative and inspire the next generation of African footballers and fans.<\/p>\n<p>The unveiling of Assad marks a major milestone as Morocco prepares to host what promises to be one of the most memorable editions of Africa\u2019s premier football competition. With the mascot now introduced, organisers say AFCON 2025 is on track to deliver an event filled with unity, pride, entertainment, and the unmatched passion of African football.<\/p>\n<p>As the continent counts down to kick-off, Assad stands ready to lead the way, symbolising the energy and heart that will define TotalEnergies CAF AFCON Morocco 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Lesotho<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. With excitement rapidly building ahead of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) have officially unveiled the tournament\u2019s mascot \u2014 a vibrant and charismatic lion named Assad. Inspired by the Atlas Lion, one of Morocco\u2019s most revered [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":65045,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[245],"class_list":["post-65046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>AFCON Morocco 2025 Unveils Assad as Official Mascot - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Lesotho. With excitement rapidly buildin ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AFCON Morocco 2025 Unveils Assad as Official Mascot\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Lesotho. With excitement rapidly buildin ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-08T20:43:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-08T21:12:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1765228247.134169.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"AFCON Morocco 2025 Unveils Assad as Official Mascot\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-08T20:43:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-08T21:12:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot\"},\"wordCount\":384,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1765228247.134169.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot\",\"name\":\"AFCON Morocco 2025 Unveils Assad as Official Mascot - Lesotho\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1765228247.134169.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-08T20:43:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-08T21:12:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"-article-header-tag\\\"> Africa-Press - Lesotho. With excitement rapidly buildin ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1765228247.134169.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1765228247.134169.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"AFCON Morocco 2025 Unveils Assad as Official Mascot\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"AFCON Morocco 2025 Unveils Assad as Official Mascot\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/\",\"name\":\"Lesotho\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"AFCON Morocco 2025 Unveils Assad as Official Mascot - Lesotho","description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Lesotho. With excitement rapidly buildin ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"AFCON Morocco 2025 Unveils Assad as Official Mascot","og_description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Lesotho. With excitement rapidly buildin ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot","og_site_name":"Lesotho","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2025-12-08T20:43:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-08T21:12:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1765228247.134169.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"AFCON Morocco 2025 Unveils Assad as Official Mascot","datePublished":"2025-12-08T20:43:45+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-08T21:12:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot"},"wordCount":384,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1765228247.134169.jpg","keywords":["Lesotho"],"articleSection":["all news","sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot","name":"AFCON Morocco 2025 Unveils Assad as Official Mascot - Lesotho","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1765228247.134169.jpg","datePublished":"2025-12-08T20:43:45+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-08T21:12:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Lesotho. With excitement rapidly buildin ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1765228247.134169.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/12\/sm_1765228247.134169.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"AFCON Morocco 2025 Unveils Assad as Official Mascot"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/afcon-morocco-2025-unveils-assad-as-official-mascot#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"AFCON Morocco 2025 Unveils Assad as Official Mascot"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/","name":"Lesotho","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}