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Rabat – Morocco’s Football Federation (FRMF) has said it is still awaiting an official response from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) regarding its request that the Moroccan team be allowed to fly directly to Algeria from Rabat to participate in the 2023 African Nations Championship (CHAN).
The tournament will take place in Algeria next year, from January 13 to February 4.
FRMF suggested in a statement on Tuesday that it might boycott the continental tournament because of Algeria’s travel restrictions on flights from Morocco.
The Moroccan federation said Morocco’s team will only take part in the competition if there is a direct flight from the Moroccan capital Rabat to Constantine, the northeastern Algerian city where the Moroccan team’s group games are scheduled to take place.
Lekjaa reiterated Morocco’s request today during a press conference following the weekly cabinet meeting held in Rabat.
“The team represents our country, Morocco, which is qualified to take part in the sporting event,” Lekjaa said, emphasizing that the host country should put in place all measures to facilitate qualified countries’ participation in the tournament.
Stressing Morocco’s request, Lekjaa emphasized that the country’s demand is to obtain a permission for a special Royal Air Maroc flight to land directly in Constantine.
“The official airline for Morocco is Royal Air Maroc,” Lekjaa said, emphasizing that the national carrier has been the official carrier of Morocco’s national teams to international sporting events, including the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
“We are waiting for CAF to respond to our demand,” Lekjaa said, noting the legitimacy of Morocco’s request as part of the international standards applied in continental and international sporting events.
“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, ” Lekjaa said.
The FRMF chief’s comments come in reaction to Algeria’s announcing its rejection of the Moroccan request.
Shortly after news emerged of Morocco’s request, Algeria’s head of the Organizing Committee of CHAN, Rachid Oukali, argued that Algeria is not responsible for ensuring the availability of a direct flight route for the participating teams. “Most of the African countries that will come to Algeria will do stopovers,” said the Algerian official.
Read Also: CHAN 2023: Algeria Refuses to Open its Airspace to Morocco’s National Team
