CHAN : Algeria and CAF have yet to respond to Morocco’s request for a direct flight route

Morocco says it still hasn’t gotten an official response from either Algeria or the Confederation of African Football about its request for its squad to fly straight to the Algerian city of Constantine for the 2023 African Nations Championship (CHAN) (CAF).

Due to Algeria’s travel restrictions on flights from Morocco, the North African nation of Morocco’s Football Federation (FRMF) said last week that it was thinking about boycotting the continental competition.

The federation said that it will only take part in the competition provided a direct flight is available from Rabat to Constantine, the location in northeastern Algeria where the Moroccan team will play its group matches.

At a news conference on December 29, the president of the FRMF, Fouzi Lekjaa, reaffirmed Morocco’s appeal, stressing that the host nation “shall” implement all measures to make it easier for nations to participate in the competition.

Morocco Is Not in a Rush
The request from Morocco has still not received a response, according to a FRMF source reported on Monday by the Moroccan news portal Le360.

However, the source added, “We don’t want to rush things. We are being patient while expecting the Algerian authorities’ reaction. Today, according to convergent reports, Algeria “formally” rejected Morocco’s proposal.

It is not surprising that a senior member of the Algerian organizing committee for CHAN stated last week that it is not the host nation’s responsibility to respond to Morocco’s request.

Rachid Oukali, the director of the CHAN organizing committee, stated last week that Algeria is “not responsible for assuring the availability of a direct route for the participating teams.” This was in response to news that Morocco had requested permission for its team to travel straight to Algeria.

According to the Algerian official, “the majority of the African nations that will travel to Algeria will make stopovers.”

In response, FMRF’s president, Fouzi Lekjaa, maintained Morocco’s request for permission for a special Royal Air Maroc flight to take the Moroccan national team to the Algerian city where they are scheduled to play.

“The official airline for Morocco is Royal Air Maroc. We have asked for permission to allow Royal Air Maroc to transport the national team directly to the host country. We have not asked Algeria to provide us with a private flight or anything of that sort,” he stressed.

Political Context
Following the Algerian government’s decision to sever diplomatic ties with Morocco, which was announced in August 2021, there have been difficult relations between Algeria and Morocco.

To maintain regional stability, Morocco has repeatedly appealed for de-escalation of the conflict and “brotherly discussion,” but the Algerian leadership has steadfastly refused to listen.

Instead, a diplomatically weakened and economically struggling Algerian leadership has turned hostilities against Morocco into a rallying cry, according to numerous analysts in recent months.

It appears that the plan is to depict Morocco as an existential danger to Algerian interests and security. Abdelmadjid Tebboune , the president of Algeria, eloquently stated in an interview last week that his country severed ties with Morocco “to prevent going to war.”

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