Moroccan sports channel apologizes for map excluding Sahara during WAFCON broadcast

Arryadia, Moroccan sports channel, issued a statement apologizing for airing a commercial segment that featured a map of Morocco excluding the Sahara, during the kickoff of the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, which is being hosted by the Kingdom.

The segment sparked a wave of criticism on social media. The channel clarified that the content was «produced by CAF» and was part of «the official international feed provided by the Confederation of African Football as part of the live broadcast of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations matches».

The statement stressed that the channel «has no control over the content of this live feed, as it merely relays the footage provided by the organizing body to all broadcasters airing the event».

The channel added that after the error was detected, «the Confederation of African Football issued an official apology to Morocco’s National Broadcasting and Television Company, acknowledging full responsibility for the incident». CAF also pledged «to correct the segment in question and ensure that such errors are not repeated in the future».