The rise of the far right is one of the reasons why young Dutch Moroccan footballers are opting to play for Morocco rather than Oranje, broadcaster NOS reported on Thursday.

Dries Boussatta was the first Dutch-Moroccan to play for the Netherlands in 1998, followed by Khalid Boulahrouz, Ibrahim Afellay, Otman Bakkal and Adam Maher. But the last was Anwar El Ghazi who opted to play for the Dutch 10 years ago.

Since then, players like Hakim Ziyech, Sofyan Amrabat and Noussair Mazraoui have chosen to play for Morocco despite being born in the Netherlands and on Wednesday, former junior Oranje player Anass Salah-Eddine followed suit.

The players have dual nationality, meaning they can opt for either country in line with Fifa rules.

Asked why Dutch-Moroccan players are abandoning the Dutch national team, Boussata, now 52, told NOS that was something to ask far right leaders Geert Wilders and Caroline van der Plas. “Who feels welcome in this country anymore,” he told the broadcaster.

“Players hear what is being said… that this is not their country,” former international Ali Boussaboun said. “If the [team] conditions are similar, it’s not a difficult choice. It’s an accumulation of things,” he said.

The Moroccan national team, known as the Atlas Lions, have had a good run in recent years, winning 16 internationals in a row. Oranje is currently sixth in the world rankings but Morocco has now climbed to 12th.

But according to Nordin Amrabat (38), politics has no place in sports. “It’s nonsense to blame extremism or racism. If you live in the Netherlands, you get plenty of opportunities as a football player,” he said.

Another reason for players’ preference for the Moroccan team is that the competition for a place in the Dutch team is tougher, Amrabat suggested. “Anass would not beat Premier League players like Micky van de Ven, Nathan Aké, Jorrel Hato and Quilindschy Hartman,” for a place in the Dutch national team, he said.

Ahmed El Azzouti, a seasoned amateur player for Spakenburg, who was greeted with racist chants during a game against his former club Kozakken Boys earlier this month, told the Volkskrant there was racism 20 years ago and there is racism now.

During the same game El Azzouzi saw his brother and a friend being attacked. “Six or seven people were kicking them; it was a shocking experience,” he told the Volkskrant. He also heard one of the stewards, tasked with security around the field, say “I don’t help Moroccans”.

The KNVB football union has started an investigation into the incidents.