Rabat – The Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) has left Algeria’s regime and media in distress after rejecting an appeal to annul RS Berkane’s win after an Algerian team abandoned the games as part of the CAF Confederation Cup final.
The tournament last year was fraught with drama due to Algeria’s hostility towards the RS Berkane team as well as Morocco’s territorial integrity.
In April 2024, the Confederation of African Football announced RS Berkane as a winner after Algeria’s team pulled out of the competition because the Moroccan team’s jerseys featured the full map of Morocco, including the southern provinces.
The authorities in Algeria also confiscated RS Berkan’s jersey after the club landed in Algeria for the first leg of their double confrontation against USM Alger.
In the second leg, USM Alger traveled to Morocco only to pull out from the game for a second time.
CAF penalized USM Alger with a forfeit of 0-3 for the first and second-leg matches.
TAS verdict rejected USMA’s request, validating the victory of RS Berkane, who wore jerseys showing Morocco’s full map.
TAS’s verdict also did not include any decisions sanctioning the club or Morocco’s Football Federation (FRMF), with the remarks made exclusively addressing CAF.
“It is now up to the CAF bodies to make a statement regarding remarks made about them, as Morocco is not concerned,” a source familiar with the dossier told Morocco World News (MWN).
In its verdict, the court said CAF regulations stipulate that all equipment, including players’ jerseys, “must not convey any political content.” It noted the respect and implementation of the “duty of political neutrality,” referencing the question of Western Sahara as an unsolved dispute.
The UN-led political process seeking to find a solution to the Sahara dossier has been frequently hampered by Algeria’s regime’s reluctance to shoulder its responsibility in the dispute.
Unresolved because of Algeria
For decades, Algeria has been hosting, financing, arming, and supporting the Polisario Front, the separatist group claiming independence in southern Morocco.
The Algerian regime has publicly refused to take part in roundtable discussions and UN-led and sponsored events convening all parties to the dispute to discuss solutions and potential resolutions seeking to end the stagnating Sahara case.
In his report on the Sahara last year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said his envoy’s discussions with Algerian foreign officials were met with a firm rejection of the country’s participation in the UN-led political process.
“On 27 February 2024, my Personal Envoy met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Algeria, Ahmed Attaf, in Algiers, Algeria. On 16 April, he met again with Mr. Attaf on the margins of the Minister’s working visit to New York on Security Council matters,” the UNSG said.
Attaf notably conveyed the continued focus of Algeria on “ensuring Western Sahara’s people the right to self-determination,” Guterres recalled, further quoting the top Algerian diplomat as insisting that his country is not a party to the conflict.
Resolution 2756 of 2024 also recalled the pressing need for the Algerian regime’s involvement, emphasizing the importance of the former roundtable discussions.
In addition to its reluctance, Algeria’s regime also lobbies against Morocco in different international forums, including the European Parliament.
On Tuesday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita slammed the attempts and maneuvers carried out by a group of MEPs, who illegally attempted to enter the city of Laayoune.
For Bourita, the orchestrated attempts are “a diversionary maneuver with no impact.”
A source told MWN that “what Minister Bourita said yesterday about the four European parliamentarians supporting the Polisario separatists… perfectly applies to the attempts at disruption currently being led by Algeria, this time in the field of football.”
CAS has no say in political issues
Beyond Algeria’s well-seated hostility towards Morocco, the TAS has been receiving several circulars warning that it should not be instrumentalized in resolving geopolitical and diplomatic conflicts.
Although CAS has the full power of review, its ruling considers looking into potential offenses rather than focusing on political or geopolitical issues.
In one of its decisions, “CAS 2018/A/5800,” the court said that it is “broadly considered that the measure of a sanction imposed by a disciplined body in the exercise of its discretion allowed by the relevant rules can be reviewed only when such sanction is evidently and grossly disproportionate to the offense.”
This reflects the court’s policy that its decisions should be made on sports offenses rather than politics or geopolitical issues.
Morocco has also been firm about its position, stressing the importance of respecting its sovereignty over its southern provinces and territorial integrity.
It remains to be seen whether CAF, an independent body, will respond to CAS’s remarks as Morocco is not concerned by the court’s decision.
