RABAT, Morocco — A court docket governing worldwide soccer disputes has dominated that depicting the disputed Western Sahara as a part of Morocco on membership jerseys violates guidelines towards political messaging.
The Switzerland-based Courtroom of Arbitration for Sport, or CAS, on Wednesday upheld an enchantment from Algeria’s soccer federation contesting the Confederation of African Soccer’s April 2024 determination permitting a northern Moroccan membership to put on jerseys that includes the disputed map.
The world governing physique states that no merchandise of equipment which “consists of political statements or photographs” could also be worn.
“The picture of a map of Morocco together with Western Sahara on the shirts of RS Berkane depicts a message, an illustration or propaganda of a political nature because it represents the assertion of a territorial dispute that’s contested and nonetheless unresolved as of immediately,” the court docket’s panel of judges dominated.
Western Sahara, a phosphate-rich former Spanish colony the dimensions of the UK, is a territory claimed by each Morocco and Polisario Entrance, a pro-independence motion that operates out of refugee camps in southern Algeria. A 1991 UN-brokered ceasefire established a mission to prepare a referendum on the area’s future, however disagreements over voter eligibility have lengthy stalled the method.
The territorial dispute drives international coverage for each Morocco and Algeria, which helps Polisario’s claims. The 2 international locations reduce diplomatic ties in 2021 and have since fought over soccer jerseys, caftans, tiles and airspace.
The soccer dispute originated final yr when gamers for Morocco’s RS Berkane had uniforms seized by Algerian authorities on the airport earlier than the primary leg of a semi-final towards USM Alger.
The Confederation of African Soccer (CAF) which organizes the continent’s worldwide soccer competitions, denied Algeria’s request to ban the shirts. RS Berkane refused to put on replacements and the sport didn’t go forward. Days later, USM Alger refused to play the second leg of the match in Morocco if the hosts wore the jerseys. CAF awarded wins to RS Berkane by default.
The case hinges on the legal guidelines of soccer requiring jerseys “not have any political, non secular or private slogans, statements or photographs.”
The ruling comes as Morocco emerges as a political power in African soccer, making ready to host this yr’s Africa Cup of Nations and the 2030 World Cup, together with Spain and Portugal.
Moroccan soccer federation president Fouzi Lekjaa is a key affect at CAF, as a member of its government committee, and inside FIFA, the place he’s among the many elected African members of the world soccer physique’s ruling council. Lekjaa is also a previous president of RS Berkane.
Lekjaa’s affect, additionally as a authorities finance minister, led to FIFA agreeing to open a improvement workplace for African soccer in the Moroccan capital, Rabat.
In an announcement, the USM Alger membership thanked the Algerian authorities and soccer federation and described the ruling as “sporting justice.”
RS Berkane additionally lauded the ruling and framed it as a victory, celebrating the panel’s determination to reject Algeria’s request to annul the outcomes of final yr’s semi-final video games and impose sanctions.
