The appointment was revealed in a statement by the Royal Moroccan Volleyball Federation.

It said it had received a letter from ANOCA confirming the appointment of Hajij.

Hajij is President of the Royal Moroccan Volleyball Federation. 

The letter from ANOCA commended Hajij for her athletic ability, sports management, and promotion of women in sport, reported Morocco's official state news agency Maghreb Arab Press.

Hajij played for three Rabat clubs - FAR, FUS, and Crédit Agricole - and represented Morocco's national teams for 18 years between 1984 and 2002.

She has degrees in sports management and marketing and communications. 

Hajij is currently manager of the human resources department at Bank Al-Maghrib.

She has long campaigned for equality in sport and urged women to be given the same opportunities as men.

Hajij became the first African woman elected to the International Federation of Volleyball Board of Administration in 2016 and is now vice-president. 

She joined the Royal Moroccan Volleyball Federation as a Federal member in 2012. 

Hajij was elected the first female President in 2015 and is now serving her second term.

She is planning to send for the Presidency of the African Volleyball Confederation next month, where she will be aiming to unseat long-serving Egyptian Amr El Wany. 

Hajij was also recently re-elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee's Culture and Olympic Heritage Commission. 

Additionally, she chairs the Committee on the Development of Women’s Sport in the Arab World.