Algeria announced Sunday, 1st of April, that it is officially supporting Morocco's bid to host the 2026 World Cup, reports Middle East Monitor quoting the Anadolu news agency. The neighboring country made its decision public through its Minister of Youth and Sports El-Hadi Wali Ali. The latter told Al-Nahar TV channel that : «President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's decree about Algeria's support for Morocco to host the 2026 World Cup is being implemented with pride». Morocco which is competing against the North American joint bid led by the United States has already been able to get the support of many European and African countries such as France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Serbia and Russia. Moreover, last week, Algeria's best football player of all time Lakhdar Belloumi has accepted to be the 2026 World Cup ambassador for Morocco. Belloumi who was a former football player and manager has refused the Kingdom's proposal before but agreed to embrace it after receiving his country's blessing. Commenting on Algeria's backing of the Moroccan bid, Moroccan former footballer Badou Zaki stated that «Algeria's position and support for Morocco's bid to host the 2026 World Cup will be a good opportunity to reopen the borders between the two countries». As strange as it might sound, Algeria's support for Morocco's football bid comes as the two neighboring nations are witnessing a diplomatic crisis. Relations between Rabat and Algiers are deteriorating as the Polisario Front has entered four buffer zones near the security wall, violating the 1991 cease fire concluded under the auspices of the United Nations. Commenting on the situation, Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit pointed out that Algeria is to be held accountable for what is hapenning in the Sahara, indicating that «every month, dozens of young people from the southern provinces are trained in Algiers to commit acts of vandalism and cause public unrest», reported MAP news agency.
