Barcelona snub game in Morocco amid ‘uncertainty’

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Barcelona on Thursday said they would not contest a friendly in Tangiers due to “uncertainty”, a week after an unprecedented migrant rush from Morocco to Spain’s territory of Ceuta.

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The Catalan giants released a brief statement saying a men’s first-team game on August 15 had been ruled out amid “the current context of uncertainty”.

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“FC Barcelona believes that the circumstances are currently not right for this match to be held,” the statement said.

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Ceuta, a tiny territory of 84,000 inhabitants, received 72,000 migrants from July 30, according to official Spanish figures, with dozens drowning as they tried to swim around a barrier in the Mediterranean Sea.

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The scenes shocked Spain and sparked a rift with some other EU countries who back a harder line on irregular immigration.

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Madrid has avoided criticising Rabat over last week’s mass arrivals, which some commentators have interpreted as a means for Morocco to pressure Spain.

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Morocco does not recognise Spanish sovereignty in Ceuta or Madrid’s other north African exclave, Melilla, and has claimed both territories since gaining independence in 1956.

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Some commentators have suggested that the crisis was a way for Morocco to warn Spain after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez tried to improve ties with Rabat’s historic enemy Algeria.

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Some Spanish political parties, including hard-right formation Vox and Sumar, a far-left member of the governing coalition, have called for Morocco to be stripped of its right to co-host the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal.

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The symbolic demand has no chance of succeeding as world governing body FIFA decides who hosts football’s showpiece tournament.

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Barcelona are due to play Premier League side Nottingham Forest, Italian team Udinese and Al Ahly of Egypt before opening their La Liga title defence at Elche on August 23.

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AFP

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