IAAF Council sends strong message of protest to Morocco
An unpleasant incident marred the 26th IAAF World Cross Country Championships, in March, when Israeli athletes were prevented from obtaining entry visas for Morocco to compete in the competition.
Following a statement of protest made at that time, the IAAF Council has voted overwhelmingly to send a letter of protest to the Moroccan Federation.
Underlining the fact that the Moroccan government had given an undertaking to issue visas to athletes from all of the IAAF Member Federations and that this undertaking had not been respected, Council has decided to ask the Moroccan Federation to withdraw the candidacy of Casablanca for next year’s IAAF Golden League/Grand Prix Final.
Council stated further that no future candidacies should be submitted by the Moroccan Federation until such time as they are able to unequivocally guarantee that any such undertaking to issue visas to athletes attending competitions will be legally binding on any future national government administration and respected to the letter.
Furthermore, Council demands that the Moroccan Federation refund all expenses incurred by the Israeli team as a result of the failure of the Moroccan authorities to grant visas enabling the team to travel to Marrakech for the World Cross Country Championships.