Algeria Delays Return of Moroccan Player’s Body Amid Bureaucratic Hurdles

The body of Abdellatif Akhrif remains blocked in Algeria. The Algerian authorities have still not issued the death certificate and the authorization for the burial of the body in Morocco.

The Royal Gendarmerie of Morocco carried out a DNA analysis of the victim’s parents. The samples were then sent to the Algerian authorities to compare them with a sample taken from the body found. Similarly, the Algerian Consulate General in Casablanca sent a copy of the report on the results of the comparison of the two samples to the competent Moroccan authorities.

According to the report, there is a high probability that the body found is that of the deceased Abdellatif Akhrif. At the beginning of December, the Consulate of the Kingdom of Morocco in Oran transmitted a copy of the report to the Oran Prosecutor’s Office, to request the issuance by the competent Algerian authorities of a death certificate and an authorization for the burial of the body in Morocco.

The Algerian maritime authorities fished out on August 8 off Oran, in Algeria, a body that would be that of Abdellatif Akhrif. On July 6, Akhrif and four other Ittihad Tanger players had rented a yacht for an outing at sea, off the Restinga beach near Mdiq, in northern Morocco. But strong winds had caused their boat to drift, leaving them in distress about 800 meters from the shore.

Alerted, the Maritime Gendarmerie quickly intervened. It managed to rescue three of them. In contrast, their teammate Salman Harraq and Abdellatif Akhrif were reported missing.