Egypt-Algeria: When violence rears its ugly head in football

It is just about the results of the World Cup qualifiers but Africa is already in a daze. What will happen from now on as the countdown to the South Africa 2010 gains earnest pace?

Something close to declaration of war came in North Africa as Algeria and Egypt argued over who would win the right to be in South Africa next June.

All eyes now look ahead to the contest itself in South Africa but there are huge lessons to be learnt about fair play in football. Thierry Henry and what he did to Republic of Ireland rankles millions of non-partisans. In Africa, it’s perhaps worse; about more abhorrent people determined to throw fair dealing out of the window.

Egypt are reportedly saying they will quit international football for two years after complaining to Fifa about the behaviour of Algerian fans.

Now that is interesting because the Egyptians seem to be saying that the only thing wrong in their acrimonious deciding tie with eventual victorious Algeria was that Algerian fans were unruly during the match in Omdurman, Sudan.

What cheek! The genesis of the whole dangerous affair was the happenings in Cairo only five days earlier. The rest of the continent was in shock at the images of Algerian players and their team bus stoned to a bloody mess by howling mobs in Cairo.

To any civilised society, it was unbelievable that a match between the traumatised Algerian team and Egypt was allowed to take place subsequent to the attacks in Cairo.

The rest of Africa has always been suspicious that many club and national football sides of Egypt, hosts of the African Football Confederation (CAF), have always got away with murder when it came to unfair conduct in the sport.

It has always been difficult to disagree with the notion that in this continent, Egypt benefits from serious patronage particularly where CAF business is concerned. But this time they seem to have gone too far in an event administered by Fifa.

Cairo fiasco

It is common knowledge what would happen to any other country in Africa dare it lay a hand on an Egyptian player, never mind brutalise him the way Cairo residents did to those Algerians. The culprit would face something as serious as a “life ban” from involvement in football!

May be this time Egypt will face a rare come-uppance; from Fifa, and they seem to know it, hence their pre-empting a self-exile.After the Cairo fiasco and Egypt’s 2-0 victory, a replay was necessary in Sudan. Now Egyptians are claiming that their fans and players were threatened before the match at Stade El Merreikh in Omdurman.

“We will stop playing (Fifa and all international matches) for two years in protest at what happened,” an Egyptian statement said.

The Egypt’s Football Federation said about the match in Sudan: “Egyptian fans, officials and players put their lives at risk before and after the game, under threat from weapons, knives, swords and flares. “We have stated most seriously in the complaint to Fifa to restore moral discipline to the world of football.

“We are ever confident and know that Fifa has always sought to preserve the lives of players and fans, and stand firmly against anyone who tries to distort the ethics and principles of world football.”

Hah! Fair enough. It is good to note that Egyptians realise it is unfair for people to threaten, leave alone maim, players and fans of opposing teams.

Fifa is currently investigating the Egyptian FA about the reports of Algerian players being attacked in Cairo. The world body will perhaps then apply the Egyptians’ own prescription that Fifa should always safeguard the lives of players and fans.

Egypt ought to face the full wrath of behaving as a crude society, never mind their, purportedly, being the cradle of man’s earliest civilisation and which they should be committed custodians of.

Nevertheless, the football passion exhibited in the tie goes to show how authorities ought to take a firm grip on football matters so that they do not turn into international catastrophy. With the World Cup coming to the continent, it is also a lesson of what kind of investment on security is required to have international football matches peacefully played.

Ecstatic Algerians

Thousands of Egyptian and Algerian fans flew in to Sudan for the play-off match won by Algeria 1-0, in the jam-packed 44,000 capacity El Merreikh stadium.

Police feared a repeat of the earlier violence in Cairo. People who did not have an interest in the match were urged by Sudanese government authorities to stay away from stadium and visiting fans from the two contesting countries as 15,000 extra police kept tight control over the stadium and its precincts.

After the match ecstatic Algerians were kept well away from Egyptian fans after some had made threatening gestures at rival supporters but by and large, the verdict was that relative peace had been maintained. Hospital sources said fans had been treated for minor injuries as scuffles broke out before the match.

Fifa’s move to remind members that barbarity cannot be condoned is awaited but it almost certainly indicates that firm action will first be taken against the occurrences in Cairo before a verdict on the Khartoum affair. Maybe Egyptians fear for the worst. They have good reason to.