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Fez – Former Moroccan football player Abdeslam Ouaddou has criticized the African Football Federation’s decision to host the final of the African Champions League in Morocco.
Speaking on the Egyptian football-focused show Kora Kol Youm aired on the channel AlHayah TV, Ouddou overtly stated that he is against Morocco’s hosting of the highly anticipated final, arguing that it would be better to host the game in a neutral venue.
“I’m against playing [the final] in Morocco, even if my country is able to organize a great event. We’re used to organizing such events, we have great stadiums, but that’s not the problem – the problem is that the situation is unsuitable in terms of fair play,” he argued.
With Morocco’s Wydad AC set to play against Egypt’s Al Ahly in the final, hosting the match on neutral ground would grant equal opportunities for the two competing teams, Ouaddou added.
The former Morocco internal’s abrupt statements were almost immediately met with wide criticism, with many Moroccan football fans taking issue with what they saw as a “betrayal” in the face of unproven allegations in some quarters that CAF favors Moroccan football.
Moroccan football analyst Mounaim Belamkadem wrote on Facebook that Ouaddou’s latest statements add to a series of previous public views in which the player tried to “swim against the tide” to undermine the significant achievements of Moroccan football on the continental and global stages.
Meanwhile, Al Ahly’s diehard supporters welcomed Ouddou’s statement with open arms, considering his opinions as a consolidation of their allegations of CAF’s perceived pro-Morocco bias.
Citing Ouaddou, several Egyptian football supporters and commentators have pointed to the CAF’s “unfair” and “unjust” decision to hold the league’s final game in Morocco.
Read also: Mohamed Aboutrika Urges Al Ahly to Withdraw from CAF Champions League Final
Without overtly charging CAF of favoring Morocco, most comments opposing the body’s decision to host the game in Casablanca appear to suggest that its “unjust” treatment of Al Ahly might be motivated by a desire to hand some kind of advantage to the Egyptian club’s Moroccan opponents in the much-anticipated final.
With this latest statement, the former Moroccan defender has added his voice to the ferocious campaign protesting Morocco’s host of the CAF Champions League final.
Two weeks ahead of what is widely expected to be a nervy, hard-fought final between two of Africa’s best football clubs, several Egyptian popular figures have been unrelenting in voicing their rejection of CAF’s choice to host the game in Casablanca.
BeIN Sports analyst and former Egyptian player Mohamed Aboutrika even took to Twitter last week to urge Al Ahly’s leadership to withdraw from the highly anticipated final. “I’d wish Al Ahly’s managing board to withdraw from this competition and keep its reputation intact against CAF injustice,” he wrote.
