African Nations for Championships (CHAN) defending champions, Morocco, have pulled out of the tournament.

Their withdrawal comes only a day to kickoff of the biennial tournament which will be hosted in Algeria.

Ironically, their decision to withdraw from the tournament comes on the back of a stand-off with the host country over travel arrangements.

Despite the cancellation of direct flights between the two countries over political tensions, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FMRF) were insistent of a direct flight from Rabat to Constantine.

Morocco’s withdrawal means CAF is now without its defending champions for one of its flagship competitions.

Equally, it now leaves the 2022 edition of the tournament solely reserved for ‘local’ players, with three groups of only three competitors.

Groups D and E originally had Angola, Mali and Mauritania and Cameroon, Congo, Niger respectively. However, Ghana, Madagascar and Sudan in Group C, now join the list.