Barcelona snub game in Morocco amid ‘uncertainty’

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.

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”.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

AFP