The first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup semi-final between USM Alger and RS Berkane was delayed due to a dispute over RS Berkane’s jerseys.
The Moroccan club insisted on wearing their official kit, including a Sahara map, throughout the competition.
Algerian authorities at Houari Boumediene Airport seized the shirts upon Berkane’s arrival. Despite CAF’s intervention requesting their return, the jerseys weren’t delivered.
USM Alger took the field alone at the scheduled match time, acknowledging their fans and posing with the Algerian flag.
Algerian fans shouted racist remarks against the Moroccan team with statements like“Give him bananas, give him bananas, the Moroccan is an animal!”
The RS Berkane team refused to play its match against USM Algiers, in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup semi-final, with alternative shirts made by the Algerian Football Federation.
Identical sources explained that Nahdet Berkane Club is clinging to its official shirt, which includes the full map of the Kingdom of Morocco.
The same sources added that the Moroccan club attended the technical meeting before the match without the shirts it had brought to Algeria.
The same sources stressed that Hakim Ben Abdullah told CAF officials, in his capacity as president of RS Berkane, that “there is no discussion on the issue, and no match without shirts emblazoned with the full map of the Kingdom of Morocco.”
