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Rabat – Morocco’s U-17 national football team has secured a direct travel route to Algeria’s Constantine for the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), according to officials in Morocco’s Royal Football Federation (FRMF).
“A direct line between Rabat and Constantine for the Under 17 national team has been secured,” FRMF official Mohamed Boudrika said on Facebook.
The 2023 U-17 AFCON is starting on Sunday, and will see 12 teams from across Africa compete for the youth title. This year marks Morocco’s third appearance in the tournament, with their best finish coming in 2013 when the team finished in fourth place.
The leadup to the tournament for Morocco has been overshadowed by the continuing tensions with Algeria, whose airspace continues to be closed off to Moroccans following the country’s unilateral decision to sever relations with Morocco in 2021.
Algeria also recently hosted the 2023 African Nations Championship (CHAN), which caused controversy as the country’s authorities prohibited the Moroccan team from flying to Algeria directly, instead of the proposed travel route that would have seen the team go to Tunisia first.
The FRMF had said then that its team would not participate in the competition if they were not granted authorization to travel directly from Rabat to Constantine, where Morocco’s group games were scheduled to take place. Morocco’s team did end up forfeiting their participation in the competition, in which they would have been title defenders, as they did not receive the authorization.
Read also: Morocco Officially Not Participating in CHAN 2023 in Algeria
Algeria severed its ties with Morocco in August 2021, accusing the country of being behind wildfires that had ravaged the Kabylie region that summer. Rabat has denied the allegations.
The severing of ties came after decades of tensions between the two countries, surrounding Algeria’s support for the Polisario Front, the separatist group claiming independence in Western Sahara.
