UAFA apologies for excluding the Sahara from Morocco’s map

The Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) sent a letter on Tuesday, December the 18th, to the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) to apologize for publishing Morocco’s map without the Sahara at the Arab Club Champions Cup.

Morocco's map was part of a photo published by the body organizing the competition to annouce the qualification of teams from Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Algeria and Morocco.

The union led by the Saudi official Turki Al Sheikh, was forced, shortly after the announcement, to remove the posters that contained the cut map, after it was slammed by Moroccan social media users.

They believe that publishing a map that excluded the Sahara was not a coincidence, recalling the fact that UAFA has allegedly «pushed Arab countries to vote in favor of the North American joint bid to host the 2026 World Cup instead of the Moroccan one».

On Monday, London-based Arabic-language newspaper Al Araby said that UAFA officials contacted the Moroccan Royal Football Federation spokesperson, Mohamed Makrouf, to apologize for what happened before sending the letter.