The Morocco national football team has announced that it will not participate in the CHAN tournament being held in Algeria after the Algerian government rejected its request for the team to fly directly on Morocco's national airline. Algeria closed its airspace to Moroccan aircraft in 2021 after severing diplomatic ties with its North African neighbor. Morocco are the title holders of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) for players under 23 who still play in African countries. The tournament starts on Friday and finishes on February 4. Football authorities in Rabat had written to the Confederation of African Football to state that Morocco would only take part if its team could take a direct flight to Algeria with Royal Air Maroc. Last month, Morocco's senior national team became the first from an African country to reach the World Cup semi-finals, raising the global profile of Moroccan football.