Algerian Backlash Against beIN Sports Over CHAN 2022 Coverage

The channel published on its official page that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) had "condemned" the political statements made on Friday, January 13 during the opening ceremony of CHAN 2022 at the Nelson Mandela stadium in Algiers, while CAF simply indicated in a press release published on Sunday, January 15 that it would verify whether the statements in question violate its statutes and the CHAN regulations, nuances TSA Algérie, specifying that the publication was then corrected on the Facebook page of beIN SPORTS.

Beyond this interpretation of the CAF press release, sports commentator Jaouad Bedda is accused of relaying the position of Fouzi Lekjaa, president of the Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) regarding Morocco’s absence from CHAN. "Morocco was not able to travel to Algeria for reasons that everyone knows," the journalist said on Monday, explaining that the Moroccan national team had not been declared forfeit. But in the evening of the same day, CAF issued a press release announcing Morocco’s withdrawal, the same source points out.