The decades-long rivalry between North African neighbors Morocco and Algeria has spilled onto the football pitch, with the Moroccan team being ousted from the African Nations Championship (CHAN). The Atlas Lions under-23 team, winners of the last two Chan tournaments, pulled out on Friday after hosts Algeria refused to authorize a direct flight from Rabat. Algiers closed its airspace to all Moroccan flights in September 2021, a month after breaking ties. Chan’s organizers said the team could have made an indirect flight.
Fouji Lekja, head of Morocco’s FRMF football federation, said, “It is really regrettable that the Moroccan national team, which had been preparing seriously for six months to participate in CHAN and defend its title, was denied the opportunity.” remained”.
An AFP photographer said the team left Rabat-Sail airport on Friday afternoon after waiting hours for the green light for the Algerian city of Constantine.
The photographer said the players and staff boarded a bus and left the airport where they had been waiting since morning.
Moroccan news website Hespress reported that the Algerian organizing committee said last week that it was under no obligation to allow the host players to arrive by direct flights.
According to Hespress, the chairman of the committee, Rachid Oukali, said that most other teams will probably have layovers on their way.
Algeria broke off diplomatic relations with Morocco in August 2021, citing “hostile acts” by the kingdom and accusing top officials of spying.
The two countries are locked in a bitter rivalry partly over the disputed territory of Western Sahara, where the Algerian-backed Polisario movement seeks an independence referendum.
The United States recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over the territory in 2020 to reestablish ties with Israel, to the chagrin of Algiers – which for decades saw itself as North Africa’s main champion of the Palestinian cause Is.
‘sovereign substance’
The Moroccan football federation said on Thursday that it was informed last month by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) that Algeria had issued “an authorization in principle” for a direct flight from Rabat to Constantine.
But the flight was not confirmed, FRMF said, announcing it was canceling its participation in Chan.
Morocco’s foreign ministry said later on Thursday that the team would indeed travel, prompting hours-long waits at the airport.
Algeria did not confirm whether it had approved the flight.
As the Moroccan team waited in Rabat, Gianni Infantino and Patrice Motsepe, heads of world governing bodies FIFA and CAF respectively, arrived from Algeria, where they had attended the opening of a new stadium.
Motsepe said he was “sad” that the team was unable to travel for the tournament.
“I want these young boys to represent Morocco and the people of Africa as well,” he said at the airport.
“I have done everything possible to facilitate the journey in the last few days,” he said.
Motsepe said Algerian officials had told him they were looking into it, but “they said it was a sovereign matter.”
While in Rabat, the CAF and FIFA chiefs also attended the draw for the FIFA Club World Cup, which will start on 1 February in Morocco.
Morocco made history last month by becoming the first African or Arab team to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
featured video of the day
Hockey World Cup returns to Odisha, Rourkela to host matches
topics covered in this article