Morocco Scores Diplomatic Win as CAF Blocks ’SADR’ Membership Bid

The CAF General Assembly adopted on March 12, 2021 an amendment that eliminates all possibilities of admitting the "SADR" into the African Football Confederation. This revision stipulates that "the African Football Confederation is open to all candidatures of African national associations as official representatives managing football in a country recognized as an independent state and a member of the UN," says political analyst Hicham Rahil in Jeune Afrique, adding that thus the CAF, which brings together the fifty-four football federations of the continent, and organizer of all competitions on African soil, mainly the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN), the African Nations Championship (CHAN) and the Champions League, "will no longer admit a new member within its family, if it is not recognized as an independent state by the UN".

This decision, which marks the failure of the initiative supported by Algeria, under its powerless gaze, represents a great victory for Morocco, and comes three months after the American recognition of the kingdom’s sovereignty over the Sahara.