After its extraordinary exhibiting on the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Morocco’s nationwide soccer workforce could boycott the upcoming African Nations Championship subsequent month attributable to a lingering diplomatic dispute with the event’s host nation, Algeria.
The Moroccan Football Federation mentioned its workforce will solely compete if there’s a direct flight from the Moroccan capital Rabat to the Algerian metropolis of Constantine, the place Morocco’s video games are scheduled to be performed.
Moroccan navy and business plane have been barred from Algerian airspace because the two neighbors severed diplomatic ties final yr. Their dispute is linked to a number of points, together with contested Western Sahara, a territory that Morocco annexed in 1975 and that Algeria-backed Sahrawis have lengthy sought independence.
The Moroccan federation mentioned in an announcement Tuesday that it had written to the African Union (AU) about procedures for African sports activities occasions and “facilitating the situations of the taking part groups.”
In its letter to the AU, the Moroccan federation demanded that the nationwide workforce be capable to fly on to Constantine on a non-public plane of Royal Air Maroc, the official provider of Morocco’s nationwide groups.
Algeria’s authorities has not responded publicly to the demand.
The African Nations Championship includes gamers from native golf equipment and runs from Jan. 13 to Feb. 4. Morocco is scheduled to play in opposition to Sudan, Madagascar, and Ghana within the group part.
Morocco grew to become the primary African or Arab nation to achieve the semifinals of the World Cup on this yr’s event in Qatar.
