CAF president Patrice Motsepe has commented on the withdrawal of Morocco from the 2022 CHAN tournament that’s currently underway in Algeria.

The Atlas Lions, who are the defending champions, pulled out just a day before the tournament’s kick-off.

The withdrawal follows after the Moroccan national team’s request to have a direct flight to Constantine, where they were supposed base during the tournament, was turned down.

The two countries’ governments have a frosty relationship which has led Algeria closing its airspace to all Moroccan flights, adding to borders which it has kept closed since 1994.

“We can’t have this situation where we have these problems,” Motsepe told BBC Africa.

“We’ve got to look at our roles, look at our laws and it’s key (for) football in Africa people stop seeing us as having some rules we don’t adhere to and we change them all the time.

The CAF boss continued: “We have to be professional, we’ve got to be ethical.

“Everybody must comply with our rules and say to Africa and the world that we are serious about African football being amongst the best.”

Morocco were supposed to play their opening match against Sudan on Sunday. It has yet to be confirmed what their withdrawal means for the format of the competition or whether the Atlas Lions will suffer any form of punishment