No longer feeling in its place within the Confederation of African Football (CAF) because of Morocco, which it accuses of cheating, Algeria is reportedly considering leaving the continental organization for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
The information is reported by Algerian sports journalist, Moumen Ait-Kaci. “The Algerian Football Federation should explore the possibility of applying for membership in the Asian Football Confederation, as Australia has done. Thus, our national selection and our teams will play their various competitions in the Asian continent. This project would soon be put under study if the CAF scandals in Algeria and our clubs persist,” he wrote on his social networks.
The Algerian Football Federation has repeatedly mentioned the existence of an anti-Algeria lobby within the CAF, maintained according to it by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and its president, Fouzi Lekjaa. Algeria accuses Morocco of having worked to prevent it from sitting on the CAF Executive Committee and weighing its weight in the designation of the organizing country of CAN 2025.
For the Algerian authorities, Morocco would also be behind the sanction imposed on Adel Amrouche, the former coach of the Tanzanian national team who, during a pre-match conference against the Atlas Lions in the group stage of CAN 2023 in Ivory Coast, accused Morocco of buying CAF referees. The Algerian technician received an 8-match suspension and a fine without being heard, which they denounced.
The Algerian Federation also criticizes the CAF, in complicity with the Moroccan Federation, for having authorized the Berkane Sports Renaissance to play with its jerseys flocked with a complete map of Morocco including the Sahara, during the CAF Cup, which led USM Alger to boycott the semi-final matches of the competition. For all these reasons, Algeria could leave CAF and request membership in the Asian Football Confederation, believes the Algerian sports journalist. But could such an initiative prosper?
