Africa-Football: And USM Alger did not play the match! Morocco’s Berkane Club cruises to CAF Cup Final

Upon the orders of the ruling Algerian junta, USM Alger did not play on Sunday the 2nd leg of their African Confederation Cup semi-final in Berkane against Moroccan team Renaissance Sportive de Berkane (RSB) which thus qualified for the final after winning by forfeit two games over the Algerian club.

In the final of African Confederation Cup, RSB will face Zamalek of Egypt which won over Ghana’s Dreams FC 3-0 in Kumasi. The Egyptians made it to the final after a goalless first leg in Cairo.

In Berkane, the USM Alger refused to play their 2nd leg semi-final match, as ordered by the Algerian regime which backs its polisario puppet, Lebanese Hezbollah, and Iranian militias, risking heavy sanctions, including fines and suspension imposed by the Confederation of African Football. The Algerian football federation will also receive sanctions.

Last week, Moroccan Berkane club have been awarded by CAF a 3-0 win over USM Alger in the first leg semi-final after Algerian authorities confiscated their jerseys displaying Morocco’s undivided map, including the Sahara, although they .

The Algerian authorities refused to release the Berkani kit though they were approved by the African football governing body. The Algerians also ignored CAF’s rulings in favor of RSB’s jerseys.

Blinded by their hatred for Morocco, the Algerian authorities and the Algerian federation, instead of resolving the crisis, provided the Moroccan club with jerseys of its making, violating the copyrights of the sponsors of Berkane club, and triggering the indignation of the football planet.

The Algerian authorities have seized the jerseys of Moroccan club upon their 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.

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 and serve a Polisario thesis on the demise.
Algerian officials and media have all engaged in a collective fanfare describing the ban on Morocco’s full map as a matter of “national sovereignty.” The result of this campaign? Algeria is now perceived by the entire Africa and the World as the real party to the Sahara conflict.

Through this lack of sportsmanship and an endemic hatred of anything Moroccan, the Algerian regime has succeeded in one thing: distracting its people from its daily regime-inflicted woes and fueling enmity through its media mouthpieces towards Morocco.

Also, 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 recent 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. It is now self-isolating itself by withdrawing or obstructing games with Moroccan teams, a saga that is set to continue…

Now, time has come for sanctions against the pariah state, Algerian sports clubs, and the Algerian Football federation!