Football: Moroccan club defeats Algerian regime & exposes its irrationality & violation of sportsmanship
The Confederation of African football has cancelled the first leg of semi-final of CAF Cup match that was scheduled Sunday in Algiers between USM Alger and Moroccan team Renaissance Sportive de Berkane after Algerian authorities refused to release the Moroccan club’s jerseys showing Morocco’s undivided map, including the Sahara.
The CAF decision dealt a hard blow to the reckless Algerian regime as it means a 0-3 home defeat for USM Alger besides the sanctions to be imposed by the African football governing body.
On Saturday, the CAF responded to an appeal against the shirts by the Algerian football federation (FAF) by ruling in favor of RS Berkane, saying the club had been wearing the same jerseys since the start of the tournament.
The CAF has also affirmed that the Moroccan club shorts comply with its statutes, urging FAF to take all necessary measures to facilitate the urgent delivery to Berkane team their jerseys and sports equipment held by Algerian authorities to avoid the cancellation of the match against USM Alger.
Instead of resolving the crisis, the Algerian federation provided the Moroccan club with jerseys of its making, violating the copyrights of the sponsors of Berkane club.
The Algerian authorities have seized the jerseys of the Moroccan club upon their arrival Friday at Algiers airport where the Moroccan players were blocked for over 10-hours to undermine their morale before the CAF Cup semi-final game against USM Alger.
As the players of the Moroccan club insisted on getting back their jerseys before going to their hotel, they were physically assaulted by the Algerian forces at the airport.
Other Algerian teams, political class and elites voiced solidarity with USM Alger, almost all of them said the customs were right in detaining the jerseys as a “sovereignty” issue. The co-opted sports and political elites once again show that Algeria is the real party to the Sahara conflict.
This is not the first time the Algerian authorities have mixed sports with politics. On several occasion, they exploited sports events to undermine Morocco’s territorial integrity, drawing international indignation and outrage.
According to some analysts, the Algerian rulers have intentionally chosen escalation and provocation acts against the Moroccan club in a bid to deflect public attention from the proclamation of the Kabylia Independence in New York.
Blinded by its hatred for Morocco, the Algerian regime has ridiculed itself in front of the world football planet by its bullying behavior and refusal to abide by the CAF and FIFA regulations. Now, time has come for sanctions against the pariah state.
