CAN U17 in Algeria: Egypt offers to participate instead of Morocco

On Mar 14, 2023

The Egyptian U17 national team could participate in the African Cup of Nations, to be held in Algeria next month, if the Moroccan national team decides to boycott the event, a member of the board of directors of the Egyptian Football Association said. Ehab Elkomy told the Egyptian press that “if Morocco renounces its participation in the Nations Cup, the Egyptian national team is ready to take its place in the tournament“.

The Egyptian official refused to explain “the reasons” why Morocco may boycott this edition of the CAN of the category. However, he said that the Egyptian U17 team “has promising players” and will be able to “achieve good results” if they participate in this tournament. The Egyptian team was eliminated in the previous stages after losing to Libya and Morocco despite beating Tunisia.

Morocco was placed in Group B of the African Cup of Nations for Under-17s (CAN U17). It will play in this group alongside Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia, for this CAN 2023 scheduled from April 29 to May 19 in Algiers, Constantine and Annaba, Algeria.

Ehab Elkomy’s media outing comes as Morocco did not take part in the 2023 edition of the African Nations Championship for local players (CHAN), which took place last January in Algeria, after the host country refused to open its airspace to the Royal Air Maroc (RAM) plane that was to transport the Moroccan national team.