Handball: Laayoune hosts Africa’s Clubs Championship 2024, Algerian regime Whimpers
The 45th African handball clubs championship will be organized in the Moroccan Saharan city of Laayoune from 10 to 19 October with the participation of 27 teams (16 men’s /11 women’s club champions) from several African countries despite the Algerian regime’s hostile campaign.
Morocco has gained the trust of the African Handball Confederation and the support of African countries for hosting the event in Laayoune. These countries are Egypt, Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, and Senegal.
In the men’s competition, Egypt takes part with champions: Al Ahly and Zamalek. Congo is represented by “Etoile” and “CFJSO”, Ethiopia sends “Mekelle 70 Enderta”, “Mechal Handball Sport Club” and “Kirikos”. Cameroon’s clubs “FAP” and “Friendship HB” are also vying for the Laayoune title, while Benin is participating with “Adjidja HBC and Flowers CNSS. Côte d’Ivoire takes part with “Don Bosco”, Senegal is represented by ASFA, while Morocco’s clubs Raja of Agadir, Mountada and Widad Smara are defending the Kingdom’s national colors.
In the women’s category, 11 clubs have been drawn in three groups: the first includes Primeiro (Angola), FAP (Cameroon), Abidjan HBC (Ivory Coast) and Sahel Women’s Sports Association (Tunisia).
The 2nd group gathers Al Ahly (Egypt), AS Otoho (Congo) and FLOWERS CNSS (Benin), while Petro (Angola), Andre Nziko (Cameroon) AS Nouasser (Morocco) and Peacocks (Nigeria) have been drawn in group 3.
Algeria withdrew from the championship after failing to block the Laayoune African tournament, suffering another major setback which comes two weeks after Morocco expelled the Algeria-backed polisario group from the International Chess Federation.
The success of Morocco sports diplomacy is pushing the Algerian regime to the corner, deepening its international isolation with the withdrawals from the sports events staged in the North African Kingdom, making Algerian athletes and teams miss precious opportunities to test and improve their skills.
