JOHANNESBURG, South Africa: Moroccan outfit Renaissance Berkane are due to host Egyptian club Zamalek on Sunday in the CAF Confederation Cup final first leg against a background of off-field drama.
Algerian club USMA, who forfeited both legs of a semi-final in a storm over Moroccan maps on the Berkane kits, have asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to reverse those verdicts.
They also wanted the first leg of the title decider, to be played in 10,000-capacity Stade Municipal in northeastern Morocco, to be postponed.
Separately, Zamalek have requested the Confederation of African Football to change the Tunisian VAR officials selected to handle the first match to those from another country.
The drama surrounding the jerseys began two days prior to the first leg scheduled for April 21 when the kit was seized by Algerian customs officials due to the inclusion of the Western Sahara on the map.
Morocco have controlled most of that sparsely populated territory, which has rich fishing grounds and phosphate reserves, since 1975.
But Algeria is opposed to Moroccan rule and supports the Polisario Front, which seeks independence for the Western Sahara.
The dispute was partly responsible for Algeria cutting diplomatic relations with Morocco in 2021 over what it called “hostile acts”. Morocco branded the decision “completely unjustified”.
CAF ordered the Algerian officials to return the confiscated kit and when they did not do so, Berkane refused to play and were awarded a 3-0 walkover by the African body.
Algeria argued that the kits contained a political message that conflicts with the laws of the game and FIFA and CAF regulations.
Morocco countered that kits including the map had been worn in Mali, South Africa, Nigeria, Congo, Brazzaville and Libya en route to the semi-finals, and there had been no objections.
USMA Travels to Morocco for Return Match But Refuses to Play
USMA travelled to Morocco for the return match on April 28, but refused to play, reportedly due to their opponents’ kits included the map. – Walkovers –
This resulted in another 3-0 walkover for Berkane over USMA, who last season won the Confederation Cup, the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League, for the first time.
USMA president Kamal Hassina told the AfricaFootUnited website that his club and the Algerian Football Federation had submitted an appeal with the Switzerland-based CAS.
Hassina said that USM was ready to play the first game in Algeria by making all the arrangements. We asked the CAS not to play this final or to postpone it.
Meanwhile, Zamalek are unhappy with the choice of VAR officials for the first leg because Mouin Chaabani, the Berkane coach, is Tunisian.
