The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected the request by the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) and UMS d'Alger to overturn the CAF decision which resulted in UMS d'Alger losing the first leg of the CAF Confederations Cup semi-finals to Renaissance Sportive de Berkane by a score of 0-3 on April 21, 2024. The Algerian club refused to play the match because of a disputed RS Berkane jersey.
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The sky is falling again for Algerian soccer. Beaten 0-3 in the first leg of the Caf Confederations Cup semi-finals by RS Berkane, the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has just rejected the Algerian club's claim concerning the Western Sahara map flocked to the Moroccan shirt in the first leg of the Caf Confederations Cup semi-finals between USM Alger and RS Berkane on April 21, 2024. CAS rejected the request by the Algerian Football Federation and USM Alger officials to overturn Caf's decision.
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The Algerian authorities seize the Moroccan equipment at the airport.
The story began on April 19, when the Moroccan team arrived at Algeria airport. Algerian customs seized the Moroccan shirts, claiming that the Moroccan map showed the territory of Western Sahara, a disputed territory for which Algeria supports independence. On April 21, 2024, during the first leg of the semi-finals, Algerian officials felt that Berkane's decision to play the match in this jersey was in breach of FIFA's November 2022 regulations banning political tendencies in soccer. However, in this competition, this point of regulation does not fall within FIFA's remit. In fact, the Confederation of African Football claims that the jersey of Moroccan club RS Berkane had been validated before the start of the competition. In fact, the Moroccans wore this shirt against Mali, Libya, Congo, Nigeria and South Africa.
Western Sahara: how to understand the origins of the conflict?
Western Sahara has been a coveted territory for decades. It is bordered by the Moroccan province to the north, Algeria to the northeast and Mauritania to the east and south. Its west coast overlooks the Atlantic. A former Spanish colony, it has not yet found a definitive legal status since the departure of the Spanish.
The territory is claimed by Morocco and the Arab Democratic Republic ( RASD), proclaimed by the Polisario Front in 1976. The latter is a movement whose claim to total independence for Western Sahara is supported by Algeria. A political issue illustrating the rivalry between Morocco and Algeria which is now spreading to the soccer arena, necessitating the intervention of the sport's jurisdictional bodies.
The Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in favor of the Moroccan club. Renaissance Sportive de Berkane, who came out on top in both the first leg and the second leg, will contest the final against the Egyptian club Zamalek. UMS d'Alger will surely learn from its mistakes.
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