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During a press briefing held, Thursday, the government spokesperson Mustapha El Khalfi commented on the official music video of the Africa Cup of Nations' song, which cropped Morocco’s map and featured the flag of the self-proclaimed «Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic».
Quoted by Arabic-language newspaper Alaoual, El Khalfi said that the Moroccan Ministry of Youth and Sports is determined to «correct the mistake», adding that it is «utterly unacceptable to crop a part of the Kingdom’s map».
By the same token, El Khalfi stressed that the agreements signed within the African Union shouldn’t allow similar practices. He told reporters that what happened with the Moroccan map is an «insult to Moroccans», stating that the government «will make sure that this mistake is repaired».
On the same day, Egypt’s ambassador to Morocco Ashraf Ibrahim reacted to the Afcon music video. In a communiqué sent to Yabiladi, the Egyptian diplomat said that the official music video for Afcon’s song will be «launched tomorrow (Friday)» on the opening of the tournament.
Ibrahim alleged that «the music video in question has been fabricated», stressing that it «has nothing to do with the original clip».
Egypt's second «unintentional mistake»
Earlier in the day, the Egyptian Football Federation apologized, on behalf of the Afcon organizing committee, acknowledging that it «was an unintentional mistake».
For the record, the music video, performed by Nigerian singer Femi Kuti, Ivorian singer Dobet Gnahoré and Egyptian star Hakim, shows an African map that does not include the southern provinces of Morocco.
By the end of the five-minute long music video, a group of young people assembled a puzzle’ pieces creating the Africa map. However, the map featured «Western Sahara as a country» and included the separatist flag.
The video, made public Wednesday, was removed from Youtube on the following day.
This is not the first time that Egypt includes «SADR» in Afcon preps. In May, the organizing committee for Afcon created an online platform for fans to purchase their tickets. The website had «SADR» on the list of countries.
One day later, the Egyptian Football Federation apologized to Morocco and stressed that it «was an unintentional mistake» committed by the organizing committee. The body said that the mistake was corrected.
For the record, the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) will be held in Egypt from June the 21st to July 19th. Twenty-four teams will participate in the tournament for the first time.
