Hommam Al Nassim 
Morocco’s Nahdet Berkane has threatened not to play its match against USM Alger after its luggage was impounded at Algeria’s Houari Boumediene airport for wearing T-shirts showing a map of Morocco including Western Sahara.
The Moroccan team was detained for nearly five hours upon arrival, due to what Algerian authorities described as a “provocative way” of entering the team with T-shirts with a map of Morocco with Western Sahara.
A report published by the Moroccan website le360 indicated that Nahdet Berkane officials withdrew from the technical meeting with representatives of the USM Alger and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), expressing their displeasure with the confiscation of the team’s shirts.
For its part, the Algerian newspaper “Al-Shorouk” wrote that the Moroccan team arrived in a provocative manner, by insisting on showing Western Sahara as part of Morocco through their shirts, in light of the Algerian support for the Polisario Front.
Nahda Berkane wrote to CAF threatening to return to Morocco if the Algerian authorities continue to refuse to hand over the team’s full luggage, and not to play their CAF Confederation Cup semi-final match against USM Algiers.
Relations between the two countries have been strained for decades over Algeria’s support for the Polisario Front, which demands independence for Western Sahara, while Morocco considers it an integral part of its territory and proposes granting it autonomy under its sovereignty.
Trade between Morocco and Algeria fell by 62% to the lowest level since 1999