2024-04-21 10:26:41
It seems that the match between Algeria’s USM Algiers and its Moroccan guest, RS Berkane, scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday, in the semi-finals of the African Confederation Cup, is at risk of being halted due to a major Moroccan shirt crisis.
The RS Berkane delegation arrived in Algerian territory this Friday morning to face USM Algiers, but the Algerian authorities, according to Moroccan reports, refused to let the Moroccan team delegation leave the airport with their luggage due to the presence of the map of Morocco on the RS Berkane shirt.
The Algerian authorities also stipulated that an adhesive tape be placed on the map, in exchange for allowing the Moroccan team to cross and play the upcoming match against USM Algiers, which was categorically rejected by RS Berkane officials, according to Moroccan reports.
The Algerian authorities consider the map on Nahdet Berkane’s shirt illegal because it includes Western Sahara as part of Morocco.
In another story by the Algerian newspaper “An-Nahar”, the delegation of RS Berkane received a distinguished reception from a delegation from the management of the Ittihad Al-Asma Club, and the same delegation received all the facilities provided by the Algerian authorities at the airport level.
According to Al-Nahar, after completing the airport traffic procedures, RS Berkane players performed Friday prayers in the airport prayer hall, after which the relevant airport authorities made reservations about the passage of T-shirts bearing political slogans that included the map of Morocco and included the Sahara lands.
Al-Nahar reported that the Algerian authorities based their decision on the regulations of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and the laws of the CAF, which prohibit the use of political slogans on players’ shirts and only permit the use of the colors of the national flag on them.
Al-Nahar confirmed that the Moroccan team players left the airport normally before returning to it again and insisted on staying there to force the Algerian authorities to allow them to recover their shirts.
Neither the Confederation of African Football, the Moroccan Football Association, nor the Algerian Football Confederation have issued any statement regarding the fate of the match yet.
Last updated: April 20, 2024 – 18:46
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2024-04-21 10:26:41