Morocco Withdraws from CHAN 2023 Amid Flight Dispute with Algeria

In a message posted on social media, the Algerian journalist and sports commentator for beIN Sports claims that Algeria was well aware that Morocco was trying to obtain an "imaginary diplomatic victory by" seeking to "break the air embargo" through its request. But the neighbor to the East was intransigent and inflexible. As a result, the reigning champions, the Atlas Lions, are not participating in the CHAN 2023 currently taking place on Algerian territory.

According to the Algerian journalist, there were still possibilities that were open to Morocco. "It was possible to enter through Tunisia, as the Moroccan delegation participating in the Mediterranean Games did," he says, adding that the Moroccan authorities could also have accepted the Algerian proposal, which was transmitted to them by the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It was a matter of traveling directly from Rabat to Algeria by another non-prohibited flight.