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While the CAS ruling does not change the finality of the match in question, it unmasks the backroom schemes within the CAF, namely the deceitful manoeuvres of Morocco's football federation, especially as the CAS opinion marks a resounding victory for Algerian sporting bodies, and is a crushing defeat for this country's games to distort the facts and deviate from the spirit of sport.

In a statement published on its official website, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said that it "has upheld the appeal by the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) versus the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) and Renaissance Sportive de Berkane (RS Berkane) contesting the validation of RS Berkane shirts, which display a map of Morocco including the territory of Western Sahara.

The CAS statement on the case underlined that RS Berkane shirts "displayed a map of Morocco including the territory of Western Sahara that does not correspond to the official map of Morocco as published by the United Nations.

The CAS concluded its statement with the following sentence: "the CAS Panel ruled that RS Berkane’s shirts for the 2023/24 CAF Confederation Cup are contrary to CAF regulations, as they display a territorial map that is of a political nature."

"The Contested Decision by the CAF Appeals Jury to maintain the approval of the shirts is annulled. The appeal filed by FAF is upheld."

The CAS verdict upholding the claims made by Algerian sporting bodies flushes out Morocco in its attempt to distort the spirit of sport in Africa, by imposing its colonial policy on a non-autonomous territory according to UN statutes.

The CAS ruling is a fine victory for Algeria, the FAF, USM Algiers club, its players, its staff and directors who remained dignified and firm in upholding the intrinsic spirit of the sport, far from any political and, in this case, neo-colonial one-upmanship.

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