Rabat – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) said it will “investigate and look into the political statements and events at the opening ceremony of the TotalEnergies CHAN Algeria 2022” in a statement released on Sunday.
The statement is likely in reference to chants made at the CHAN opening ceremony in Algeria, where audience members repeated: “Give them bananas! Moroccans are animals!”
“These political statements are not the statements of CAF and do not reflect the views or opinions of CAF as a politically neutral organisation,” the CAF’s statement added.
The confederation added that it will give an update “in due course,” and that it is under an obligation not to get involved in political matters.
The chants came after Morocco, the defending champion, missed out on participating in the competition due to Algeria’s refusal to grant authorization to travel directly from Rabat to Constantine using its national carrier Royal Air Maroc.
President of Morocco’s Royal Football Federation (FRMF) Fouzi Lekjaa had announced in December that if the team is not allowed to make the direct trip on a Royal Air Maroc flight, they would forfeit their participation.
Algeria has prohibited any Moroccan planes from entering its airspace since it unilaterally cut ties with its neighbor in August 2021.
On Friday, Morocco’s team was ready to board their flight from Rabat-Sale International airport, but could not make the trip in the end as authorization from Algeria was never received.
Lekjaa described the decision to not allow the team to defend the title as a “shame,” while CAF President Patrice Motsepe also expressed disappointment at the absence of the Moroccan team.
In addition to being the defending champions, Morocco also has the most titles in the competition, tied with DR Congo with two titles each.
