Algeria Drags the African Federation of Football into its Conflict with Morocco
Washington DC – The President of the African Federation of Football (CAF) had a front seat to the extent of Algeria’s weaponization of African soccer. During the opening ceremony of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) held in Algeria in January 2022, Dr Patrice Motsepe heard the Algerian public hurling racist insults at Moroccans and a speaker calling for war against Morocco. The CAF and FIFA should not condone this contempt and violation of their apolitical code.
The 2022 CHAN was a division competition which showed the world why Algeria is not suitable to host world sporting events. The growing tendency of the Algerian government to mix politics and sport creates an atmosphere of hatred, rage, and division between African soccer fans.
Algeria has a long tradition of mixing politics with sport. The Algerian army transforms every sport or cultural event organized in its territory into a political demonstration to attack Morocco and advance political agendas.
The Algerian military decision not to let Morocco’s football team fly directly to CHAN 2022 is another example of how sports and politics are inseparable in Algeria. Several sources in the North African nation indicated that the Algerian President and his minister of sports agreed to let the Moroccans fly but the de-facto leader General Chengriha overruled them. The Algerian army uses African football to settle scores with its adversaries.
Chengriha has the right to block Moroccan aircraft from flying over his country, but he should not have the decision to stop a team from taking part in a CAF-sponsored event. In fact, his attendance at the CAF and FIFA visits to Algeria was troubling and disturbing. The military is exploiting these events for political propaganda and use them to remind the Algerian public that the army is in charge.
In calling “Moroccans animals who need bananas” during the CHAN, the Algerians were repeating the racist and xenophobe chants that European neo-Nazis use to taunt black and African players during European soccer games. It would be an insult to all Moroccans and Africans if the CAF and FIFA did not reprimand the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) for such heinous acts.
Moreover, several Algerian journalists reported that the groups of spectators behind the racist songs were plainclothes soldiers who snuck into the stadium to provoke the Moroccans. It is clear that CAF and FIFA have become unwitting accomplices in the Algerian war against Morocco.
By inviting a speaker to give a violent anti-Morocco sermon during a CAF opening ceremony, the Algerians are violating sports charts and international norms in manners that have not been seen since the years of the Cold War. Algeria is manipulating sport as a political weapon under the watch of the head of the governing body of African football.
Algeria is not ready to host upcoming African tournaments for a few other reasons. His supporters’ anti-African behavior at the 2022 World Cup is shameful. Thousands of Algerians traveled to Qatar to oppose African teams in the competition, cheered on opposing teams, and harassed African supporters and officials. The pro-military Algerian daily Echououk ran one if its editions with the racist headline: “the Cameroonian team returns “the bush”.
The photos of Algerian supporters rejoicing over the defeat and the exit of the African teams are shameful. The Algerian press, that spent last year mocking and disparaging the CAF after the Algerian team was disqualified from Qatar 2022 and celebrated the African defeats, is begging to host the 2025 CAN.
It is obvious that the Algerians are not fit to host Pan-African sporting events of any sort. If the CAF ignores Algerian officials and fans’ egregious conducts, it would convey the wrong message and hurt the image of African sports.
In addition, African leaders need to reprimand Algeria for such uncivilized behavior. A CAF failure to impose tangible reprimands for Algerian belligerence is likely to encourage and embolden other nations to use sporting venues for self-serving political propagandas.
Source: Morocco World News
