The delegation of the Algerian Football Association team arrived at Oujda-Angad Airport at around five in the afternoon, Friday, on board an Egyptian plane that took it on a direct flight licensed by the Moroccan authorities from Algeria’s El Houari Boumediene Airport.
The same delegation left the airport after about 20 minutes, where a bus belonging to a private transport company was waiting to take it to one of the classified hotels in the city of Saidia, where its members will stay during the next two days, before facing the RS Berkane team in the second leg of the African Confederation Cup semi-final.
The players had to wait on the bus for about a quarter of an hour before joining the team officials who left in a private car.
Dozens of citizens made a pilgrimage to Oujda-Angad Airport. The Algerian team, USM Algiers, and its crew were welcomed with milk, dates, and roses, and slogans including, “Hello, USM Algiers,” and “The Sahara is Moroccan.” The arrival of the Algerian team was also covered by media coverage from a group of national and local platforms.
Hespress learned from private sources that a meeting will be held shortly to determine the timing of the press conference that precedes the match, which is likely to be in the hours of tomorrow morning.
The return match between RS Berkane and USM Algiers will take place next Sunday, starting at eight in the evening at Berkane Municipal Stadium.
It is worth noting that the first leg between RS Berkane and its host USM Algiers did not take place due to the Moroccan team not being able to wear its official shirts after they were detained by the customs authority at Houari Boumediene Airport, because they carried a map of Morocco on their chest.
In this context, it is noteworthy that the Hespress journalist and the photographer accompanying him were not allowed to enter the airport, while other outlets were allowed to enter, under the pretext of not having a prior license, which is denied by the newspaper’s management, which submitted an official request to the airport administration on April 25, 2024.