Algeria Withdraws from African Gymnastics Championships in Morocco

"We regret to inform you of the cancellation of the participation of our teams entered in the upcoming African Artistic Gymnastics Championships scheduled in Marrakech from April 30 to May 7, 2024," reads a correspondence that Ali Zaater, president of the Algerian Gymnastics Federation, addressed to his Moroccan counterpart Abdel-Sadek Bitari, president of the Royal Moroccan Gymnastics Federation. He also took the time to explain the reasons behind the decision. "The file presented to the Ministry of Youth and Sports (Algerian, editor’s note) did not receive approval for the execution of this mission," he explained.

This is not the first time that Algeria has decided to withdraw from a sports competition organized in Morocco. On Tuesday, the match between Morocco and Algeria for the third day of the sixth edition of the Arab Handball Championship for Under-17s did not take place at the covered hall of the Mohammed V sports complex in Casablanca. The young Fennecs forfeited because of the jersey of the Atlas Lions with the map of Morocco integrating the Sahara. Algeria could also soon withdraw from other competitions, as the Moroccan wrestling team has obtained the approval of the International Wrestling Federation to wear the jersey with the map of Morocco.

On April 21, the dispute over the jersey containing a complete map of Morocco worn by Moroccan players ended up causing the cancellation of the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup semi-finals scheduled for the evening between Union Sportive de la Médina d’Alger and the Moroccan team RS Berkane, in Algeria.