CASABLANCA, Morocco — Standing just inside the lobby of Casablanca’s Novotel, Koly Koivogui was hard to miss.

Dressed in a bright red zip-up track top bearing the insignia of the Guinean national soccer team, Koivogui, a large, barrel-chested coach, stood guard. He was making sure that uninvited player agents or scouts did not harass members of his team on the eve of the 16-team African Nations Championship, a competition for national teams with rosters made up solely of players who play club games in their birth countries.

For coaches and other team officials like Koivogui, the top priority is making sure the teams excel, with distractions kept to a minimum. But for many players present, the biennial tournament, now in its fifth edition, represents a rare opportunity for a life-changing event: the chance for previously unheralded players to make their way onto national teams or into better-paying leagues in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

“I can spot them,” Koivogui said, suspiciously watching the hotel’s revolving door for agents. “No agents can come here without permission.”