The recent Algerian withdrawals from continental sports competitions organized in Morocco, such as the withdrawal of the Algerian USM Algiers from the second leg of the semi-finals of the African Confederation Championship, and before that the national team of this country from the Arab Handball Championship held in the Kingdom, and finally the cancellation of the Algerian national team’s participation in the African gymnastics competition, sparked ( It raised the debate about Algeria’s transfer of its political conflict with Morocco over the Sahara from diplomatic arenas to sports arenas, the latter of which are supposed to be devoid of political hatreds that fuel hostilities between peoples and masses.
It seems that Algeria’s bet today on linking its participation in any continental sporting competition to the issue of the artificial conflict over the Sahara can only leave this Maghreb country in sporting isolation, adding to the diplomatic isolation it is suffering from in its regional space as a result of its successive crises with neighboring countries. It tends to repeat the scenario that Russia has faced since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with the subsequent ban on its national teams from participating in European competitions.
In this regard, Hisham Ramram, a journalist specializing in sports affairs, said, “What Algeria did remains linked to its assessments at the political and sovereign level, as it cannot be separated from the various political developments that have occurred in the region during the recent period, especially after the Guerguerat incident and Spanish support for Morocco.” .
Ramram stressed, in a statement to Hespress, that “Algeria’s resort to successive withdrawals from sports competitions goes against logic, because it directly deprives a number of athletes from participating in sports demonstrations,” pointing out that “the recent escalation was primarily intended to draw attention and nothing else.” “For a desire to record positions.”
The same spokesman stated that “Algeria has begun to use sports as a means to perpetuate hostility towards Morocco, a method that has become counterproductive up to the present time, as it has become clear, and would create problems for it in the future, at a time when customs intervention to seize RS Berkane team shirts was in violation of applicable laws.” “, stressing that “the fate of Algeria cannot be isolated from Morocco.”
The journalist specializing in sports affairs stated that “despite everything that has happened, Morocco remains clinging to the outstretched hand affirmed by the highest authority in the country, to the point that we have not seen provocations from Morocco or a reciprocal response up to now,” highlighting that “every country has the right to use The solutions he deems appropriate.”
For his part, Aziz Belboudali, a sports journalist, said, “Algeria is not the first time it has involved the sports field in its hostility to Morocco, as it has been trying to cast doubt in the media on Morocco’s achievements, and it has been its opponent in a number of international and continental sports bodies.”
Belboudali added, in a statement to Hespress, that “Algeria does not hesitate to express its hostility to Morocco in various fields, including sports and culture, and today it is moving with closed eyes in the direction of losing the sports organization of competitions and losing titles as well,” adding that “its continued withdrawal will push the International Federation.” Football in particular has to take a decisive stance against it, thereby saving itself.”
In addition, the sports journalist considered that “the Algerian practices today are beyond logic, and Algerian local public opinion and the sports fans themselves in this country are fed up with them because they are deprived of cheering for their teams, as a result of the decision-maker in Algeria being dependent on narrow political calculations that are unacceptable in the world of sports,” recording “Unfortunately, Algeria has turned sports stadiums into another space to channel its eternal hostility towards Morocco, which has remained committed to the policy of an outstretched hand towards its eastern neighbour.”
