CHAN
Morocco may make a U-turn over CHAN withdrawal
Morocco’s English newspaper, Morocco World News has reported that the country’s football team may still travel to Algeria for their African Nations Championship title defense if they get a positive response from the hosts, Algeria.
The football federation previously said the team would be withdrawing from the competition. But according to the publication, Morocco’s national football team of local players is still making preparations for the African CHAN championship at the Mohammed VI complex, and is “ready to travel at any time,” President of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation Fouzi Lekjaa told sports channel Arryadia on Thursday.
“All we are awaiting is related to the organizers of the competition who need to give authorization for the national team to travel on a Royal Air Maroc airplane,” Lekjaa explained.
He added that the airline is the official transport partner for all of Morocco’s national football teams.
“As you know, we are a short distance away, and it requires a short flight time,” he went on to say. “At any time that we receive a positive response, the national team is ready and equipped to travel to Constantine to participate in CHAN.”
Lekjaa also said that if an authorization is not given, the Moroccan team would be robbed of the chance to play in a tournament that they spent a long time getting ready for, as well as the chance to defend their title.
In December, Lekjaa announced that Morocco would boycott the continental tournament if the Moroccan team was not allowed to travel directly from Rabat to Constantine, the host of the tournament, on a Royal Air Maroc plane.
The tournament is set to kick off this Friday, and Morocco, being the defending champions and the holders of the most titles (DR Congo and Morocco both have two), would be conspicuous by its absence from the event.
Faced with Morocco’s demand for a direct flight route, Algerian officials have shirked their country’s responsibility in the matter. Rachid Oukali, the head of the CHAN organizing committee, has said that the host country is not responsible for ensuring direct travel routes for the participating teams.
Ghana and Nigeria are paired together for the third time in the qualifying series for the African Nations Championship. They had met in the 2009 and the 2022 series. The aggregate results were in Ghana’s favour.
First in the 2009 qualifiers, Nigeria squandered a 2-0 first-half lead in Accra and lost 3-2. But going into the return leg played in Calabar, they could not score a goal that could have seen them through on away goal rule as they ended the match 0-0.
In the last edition, Nigeria for the 2023 edition, Nigeria lost 2-0 in Accra but levelled up in Abuja after a late 2-0 win. But in the eventual penalty shoot-out, the Nigerian team lost 5-4.
Will they overcome Ghana this time?
There will be no qualifying series for the African Nations Championship (CHAN) in North Africa. This is sequel to the withdrawal of Algeria and Egypt.
With the region entitled to three teams, the remaining three – Morocco, Tunisia and Libya qualify automatically.
The age-long rivalry has again been rekindled as the draw for the 2025 African Nations Championship has pitched Ghana and Nigeria together.
Both teams have a rivalry that dates back to 1951 and will have a confrontation that determines which country will qualify for the tournament which is opened only to domestic players.
It is also a measure of the relative strength of the domestic leagues of the countries. Ghana and Nigeria will play just in the second round of the West Africa Zone B qualifier while Togo and Benin will the first round and the winner play against Niger Republic.
The rivalry of Nigeria and Ghana has gone beyond sports, especially in football, It extends to the culinary industry as each claims to be better in the cooking of Jollof rice, hence the ‘Jollof Rice’ controversy.
In another West Africa Zone B qualifiers, Cote d’Ivoire will face Burkina Faso. The first round of qualifiers will be played on the weekend of 25 – 27 October and 01 – 03 November 2024, with the second round confirmed for 20 – 22 December and 27 – 29 December 2024.
Three nations qualify for the tournament from each zone except the East, where one country qualifies with co-hosts Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
Finals to be played from Feb 1-28, 2025 in Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Kampala.
North Region
Libya, Morocco and Tunisia qualify automatically
West A region
First Round
- Sierra Leone v Liberia
Second Round
- Sierra Leone or Liberia v Senegal (holders)
Mauritania v Mali
Guinea v Guinea-Bissau
West B region
First Round
Togo v Benin
Second Round
Togo or Benin v Niger
Ivory Coast v Burkina Faso
Ghana v Nigeria
Central region
Second Round
Equatorial Guinea v Congo Brazzaville
Central African Republic v Cameroon
Chad v Democratic Republic of Congo
East region
First Round
Burundi v Somalia
Ethiopia v Eritrea
Sudan v Tanzania (co-hosts)
South Sudan v Kenya (co-hosts)
Djibouti v Rwanda
Second Round
Burundi or Somalia v Uganda (co-hosts)
Ethiopia or Eritrea v Sudan or Tanzania
South Sudan or Kenya v Djibouti or Rwanda
South region
First Round
Zimbabwe v Eswatini
Lesotho v Namibia
Second Round
Zimbabwe or Eswatini v Madagascar
Lesotho or Namibia v Angola
Mozambique v Zambia
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