Conspiracy-plagued Algeria boycotts CAF awards ceremony

MARRAKECH – Algeria boycotted on Monday the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) ceremony to distribute awards for the 2022-2023 season, which was held at the Palace of Conferences in the Moroccan city of Marrakech in a protest against the non-nomination of Al-Ahly Jeddah’s Algerian player, Riyad Mahrez and the USMA’s former coach Abdelhak Ben Sheikha, for any CAF award for the current season.

Algeria’s boycott was unreasonable, given that nominations are made according to certain criteria and are not tainted by any exclusionary intentions on the part of CAF since the nomination process is subject to certain standards known at both the regional and international sports levels.

Algeria’s decision apparently goes beyond mere protest and comes within contexts of ongoing tensions with Morocco, fuelled by the solid core of the regime at every political or sports event.

In the Algerian media and on social platforms, accusations were made against Morocco that it is the one controlling the decisions of the CAF, which is headed by South African Patrice Motsepe.

The same accusations were previously aimed at the Head of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, Faouzi Lekjaa, during the era of former CAF President Ahmed Ahmed.  

The boycott may also be due to the fact that the CAF Awards ceremony was held in Marrakech, the Moroccan tourist city that has come under the global spotlight after successfully hosting major international events, the most recent of which were meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.  

Walid Sadi, President of the Algerian Football Federation, announced on Sunday that he “will not attend the CAF ceremony in Morocco,” adding that he informed the CAF President of this decision, which he justified by his solidarity with the player Mahrez and the USMA team.

Riyad Mahrez's failure to be nominated for any award for the 2022-2023 season sparked widespread controversy and uproar in the Algerian media, which considered that he was the firm favourite for winning the African Ballon d’Or after winning the Premier League, the cup and the UEFA Champions League with his former team, Manchester City.

Oualid Regragui, the head coach of the Moroccan national football team, won the Best Coach for leading the “Atlas Lions” to the semi-finals in the Qatar 2022 World Cup, an unprecedented achievement for both Arab and African football.

Moroccan national team goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was also crowned the best goalkeeper on the African continent during the 2022-2023 season.

Nigerians Asisat Oshoala and Victor Osimhen claimed respective African Footballer of the Year honours.

Morocco was named the National Team of the Year for the men while Nigeria’s women’s team was given the same nod.