Zoelifel Mandela attended the official opening of the new Nelson Mandela stadium, along with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has opened an investigation into political statements made by Nelson Mandela’s grandson during the opening ceremony of the African Nations Championship in Algeria.
CAF said in a statement that it would consider “whether there is compliance” with the rules set by CAF and FIFA.
The Moroccan Football Federation sent a protest to CAF after Mandela’s grandson made remarks during the opening ceremony of the tournament on Friday, January 13th, where Zolifululel Mandela was the guest of the local organizing committee.
The ceremony and the opening match of the tournament, in which Algeria beat Libya with a goal without a response, were held at the recently built Nelson Mandela Stadium in the Algerian capital.
Mandela’s grandson said, during a speech: “Let us fight to liberate from oppression the last colony in Africa, Western Sahara.”
In the letter of protest, seen by the BBC, the Moroccan Football Federation said the permit for Western Sahara had nothing to do with the tournament or football in general and that it targeted Morocco exclusively.
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Morocco’s flag was placed among 18 nations at the opening ceremony, although the defending champions had already withdrawn from the tournament
Western Sahara is a sparsely populated region located on the northwest coast of Africa, and was a former Spanish colony, and was annexed by Morocco in 1975.
Since that time, it has become the subject of a long-term territorial dispute between Morocco and the indigenous people of Western Sahara, in light of Algeria’s support for the region’s demands for independence.
Relations between Morocco and Algeria were so strained that the two countries severed diplomatic relations in August 2021, and the tension has now moved to the African Nations Championship for locals, with Morocco’s decision to withdraw and not defend its title after the host country refused to allow the Atlas Lions a direct flight from Rabat to Constantine. On board a Royal Air Maroc plane.
Besides his statements on Western Sahara, Mandela led a crowd of 40,000 people chanting “Free Palestine”.
Kaf said at the start of the investigations: “These political statements are not Kaf’s statements and do not reflect Kaf’s views or opinions as a politically neutral organization.”
