2009 Egypt–Algeria World Cup Dispute
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There were disturbances before and after two international
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
matches between
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
in November 2009, leading to diplomatic tensions between Egypt, Algeria, and Sudan. The matches were in
Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for Touring car racing, touring cars and ''Group B'' for Grand tourer, GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 (motorspor ...
in the CAF section of the qualifying competition for the
2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...
and the
2010 African Cup of Nations The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange (telecommunications), Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial association football, football championship of Africa (Confederat ...
The first match, the final scheduled match in Group C, took place in
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
on 14 November, with Egypt winning 2–0. The result left Egypt and Algeria tied for first place in Group C, necessitating a playoff match in a neutral country. This took place in
Omdurman Omdurman () is a major city in Sudan. It is the second most populous city in the country, located in the State of Khartoum. Omdurman lies on the west bank of the River Nile, opposite and northwest of the capital city of Khartoum. The city acts ...
,
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
on 18 November, with Algeria winning 1–0 and thus qualifying for both World Cup and African Cup final tournaments in South Africa in June 2010 and Angola in January 2010 respectively, while Egypt is only qualified to the African Cup tournament


Rivalry

The countries are both in North Africa, separated by
Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
and Tunisia, and football matches between them are fiercely contested local derbies. Although both have long been among Africa's stronger sides, each had experienced a long drought without World Cup qualification: Algeria since
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...
and Egypt since
1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
. In 1989, Egypt beat Algeria in a decisive qualifying match for the
1990 World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...
. Player
Ayman Younes Ayman Younes (Egyptian Arabic: أيمن يونس; born 20 February 1964) is an Egyptian sports executive and a retired footballer who played as a midfielder and forward. He played for Zamalek and the Egypt national team. Nicknamed the "Philosop ...
later said, "It was a battle, not a football match." Algerians felt the Tunisian referee was biased; fans rioted in the stands. An Algerian player attacked an Egyptian fan. Algeria's
Lakhdar Belloumi Lakhdar Belloumi (; born on 29 December 1958) is an Algerian former football player and manager. A former attacking midfielder, he is widely considered the best Algerian player of all time and one of the best players in Africa. He is said to hav ...
was convicted ''in absentia'' for a glass attack which blinded Egypt's team doctor in one eye. He remained subject to an
Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...
arrest warrant, although he claimed goalkeeper
Kamel Kadri Kamel Kadri (born 19 November 1963) is an Algerian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made nine appearances for the Algeria national team between 1987 and 1992. He was also named in Algeria's squad for the 1988 African Cup of Nati ...
had been the true perpetrator. Khaled Diab suggests that the 1989 match was the key moment for Egypt–Algeria rivalry, and that it is mainly confined to football rather than a reflection of deeper enmity; he notes
Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...
supported Algeria's independence war against France, and suggests memory has faded in Algeria of
Anwar El Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 O ...
's unpopular
Camp David Accords The Camp David Accords were a pair of political agreements signed by Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin on 17 September 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David, the country retre ...
with
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. On the other hand, Brian Oliver and James Montague point to other football controversies before 1989. In the 1950s, an
Algerian National Liberation Front The National Liberation Front (; ), commonly known by its French acronym FLN, is a nationalist political party in Algeria. It was the main nationalist movement during the Algerian War and the sole legal and ruling political party of the Algerian ...
football team toured Africa to publicise its independence campaign, but were forbidden from playing in Egypt. At the
1978 All-Africa Games The 3rd All-Africa Games (; ), alson known as Algiers 1978 () was a multi-sport event played from 13 to 28 July 1978, in Algiers, Algeria. 45 countries from 49 independent African countries participated in twelve sports. At the closing ceremoni ...
, Algerian police attacked Egyptian players and fans during their match against
Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
. There were brawls at a qualifier for the
1984 Olympics The 1984 Olympics may refer to: *The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia *The 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an i ...
.


Blida match

Algeria's home match against Egypt in the 2010 qualifiers took place in June 2009 without any incident being reported. Rather, to cool down animosity between the two countries, the Egyptian team was received with flowers at the airport. Diplomatic agreement, with personal intervention from Algerian president
Abdelaziz Bouteflika Abdelaziz Bouteflika (; ; 2 March 1937 – 17 September 2021) was an Algerian politician and diplomat who served as the seventh president of Algeria from 1999 to his resignation in 2019. Before his stint as an Algerian politician, Bouteflika s ...
, included lifting the Interpol warrant on Belloumi and compensating the Egyptian team doctor. Both teams prepared for the match away from the pressure of intense local fans; Egypt in
Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...
, Algeria in France. Algeria coach
Rabah Saadane Rabah is a Local Government Area in Sokoto State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Rabah. It has an area of 2,433 km and a population of 149,165 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is 842. Rabah was the home town ...
wept at a press conference, expressing fear for his family's safety in the event of defeat. 5,000 security personnel turned
Blida Blida () is a city in Algeria. It is the capital of Blida Province, and it is located about 45 km south-west of Algiers, the national capital. The name ''Blida'', i.e. ''bulaydah'', is a diminutive of the Arabic word ''belda'', city. Ge ...
into a "virtual military base". Minors were barred from the stadium unless they had a ticket. Algeria won 3–1.


Cairo match

The lead-up to the crucial match was hyped. In October, insults were traded on internet sites, and Egyptian
hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who achieves goals and solves problems by non-standard means. The term has become associated in popular culture with a security hackersomeone with knowledge of bug (computing), bugs or exp ...
s made a
denial-of-service attack In computing, a denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) is a cyberattack in which the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a host co ...
on the website of Algerian newspaper '' Ech-Chorouk El-Youmi''; an Algerian hacker retaliated by crashing the websites of the
President of Egypt The president of the Arab Republic of Egypt () is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointer of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the History of the Egypt ...
and Egyptian newspaper ''
Al Ahram ''Al-Ahram'' (; ), founded on 5 August 1876, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second-oldest after '' Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriyya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majority owned by the Egyptian governm ...
''. Both countries' governments appealed for calm. Media in both countries alluded to the 1989 match. Editorialist Mohamed El Dahshan reported, "In the two days preceding the game, Egyptians celebrated as if they had already won."
Ahmed Shobair Ahmed Abdelaziz Shobeir (; born 28 September 1960) is former Egyptian goalkeeper who played for Al Ahly club & Egypt national football team. He is a former vice-president of the Egyptian Football Association, and a previous official of Egyptian na ...
stated that rumours started on the internet were being propagated by the
mainstream media In journalism, mainstream media (MSM) is a term and abbreviation used to refer collectively to the various large Mass media, mass news media that influence many people and both reflect and shape prevailing currents of thought.Noam Chomsky, Choms ...
. When the Algerian team arrived in Cairo on Thursday 12 November, the bus carrying the team to its hotel was stoned, breaking windows and injuring three players and one official. Egyptian media alleged that the attack had been staged by the Algerians to have the match moved to a neutral venue. The
police escort A police escort, also known as a law enforcement escort, is a service offered by police and law enforcement to assist in transporting important individuals or resources. This is done by means of assigning police vehicles, primarily cars or moto ...
of one van and several motorcycle outriders was criticised as insufficient. Egypt's leading state-owned daily ''
Al-Ahram ''Al-Ahram'' (; ), founded on 5 August 1876, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second-oldest after '' Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriyya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majority owned by the Egyptian governm ...
'' charged on Friday that it was the Algerian players, not stonethrowers, who had caused the damage to the bus. "The bus carrying the team from the airport to the hotel was at the centre of a strange incident in which some of the players started to smash the vehicle's windows claiming that they were the target of stonethrowing", the paper reported. The independent daily '' Al-Shuruq'' went further, saying the whole episode was a "complete fabrication." Citing a "senior security source", the paper said the windows of the bus were smashed "from the inside not the outside as claimed by Algerian team members." It accused the players of a "complete fabrication intended to serve as an excuse in the event that they lose" Saturday's key decider for next year's World Cup finals in South Africa.Egypt press says Algerian team faked bus attack
by Ines bel Aiba, AFP, 13 November 2009
The independent ''
Al-Masry Al-Youm ''Al-Masry Al-Youm'' ( ', , meaning ''The Egyptian Today'') is an Egyptian privately owned daily newspaper that was first published in June 2004. It is published in Arabic as is its website, ''almasryalyoum.com''. An English version of the webs ...
'' newspaper acknowledged that some "kids" had thrown stones but charged that the Algerian players had then put on a "display of histrionics pretending to be scared and injured, and smashing up the bus's windows and seats." The state-owned ''
Al Gomhuria Al Gomhuria' (; ) is an influential state-owned Egyptian Arabic language daily newspaper. History and profile ''Al Gomhuria'' was established in 1954 following the Egyptian revolution and became the new regime's leading media outlet. The paper ...
'' said the players had even assaulted the bus driver. Counterclaims included footage shot by
Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...
for its documentary about the Algerian team and cellphone footage shot by
Rafik Saïfi Rafik Saïfi (; born 7 February 1975) is an Algerian retired professional football player who played as a forward or as an attacking midfielder. Club career Saifi began his football career at CM Bordj El Kifane. It was there where he got a na ...
. FIFA observer Walter Gagg said, "We saw that three players had been injured — Khaled Lemmouchia on the head,
Rafik Halliche Rafik Halliche (born 2 September 1986) is an Algerian former professional footballer who played as a central defender. He started playing in 2005 with Hussein Dey, going on to spend the vast majority of his career in Portugal. He also had spells ...
above the eye and
Rafik Saïfi Rafik Saïfi (; born 7 February 1975) is an Algerian retired professional football player who played as a forward or as an attacking midfielder. Club career Saifi began his football career at CM Bordj El Kifane. It was there where he got a na ...
on the arm." The initial reporting following the incident likely led to further poisoning the build-up to Saturday's game. The pre-match atmosphere in Egypt had already surged to feverish heights amid an unprecedented level of tension between the North African rivals.
Egyptian foreign ministry The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt () is the Egyptian government ministry which oversees the foreign relations of Egypt. On 3 July 2024 Badr Abdelatty was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. History Early history ...
spokesman Hossam Zaki had specifically called for responsible coverage by both countries' media as the two governments issued joint appeals for calm. Egyptian and Algerian media "hold a responsibility in this regard and must work to maintain the strong ties between both countries and should not fuel disagreements that are unrelated to sports and sportsmanship", Zaki said. That same evening just outside Cairo, Algeria's "king of
raï Raï (, ; , , ), sometimes written rai, is a form of Algerian folk music that dates back to the 1920s. Singers of Raï are called () or (), i.e. 'young', as opposed to (, 'shaykh'), i.e. 'old', the name given to Chaabi singers. The tradi ...
"
Cheb Khaled Khaled Hadj Ibrahim (, ; born 29 February 1960), better known by his mononym Khaled (), is an Algerian raï singer, musician and songwriter. He began recording in his early teens under the name Cheb Khaled (, Arabic for "Young" Khaled, with " ...
performed alongside Egyptian star
Mohamed Mounir Mohamed Mounir (; born October 10, 1954) is an Egyptian singer and actor, with a musical career spanning more than four decades. He incorporates various genres into his music, including classical Egyptian music, Nubian music, Blues, Jazz and ...
to a packed audience of nearly 45,000 people, according to organisers. "Long live Egypt, Arab country, long live Algeria, Arab country", Cheb Khaled shouted to the crowd with little apparent impact on home fans ahead of the game.
Egyptian Football Association The Egyptian Football Association () is the governing body of association football in Egypt. A member of FIFA since 1923 and a founding member of the CAF, the EFA has jurisdiction over the Egyptian football league system and is responsible for ...
board member Mahmoud Taher later indicated that "all Algeria players are safe. They were not hurt. Algeria is trying to blow things out of proportion. The bus is damaged from inside, so it is obvious that they were the ones who did that to escalate the matter. FIFA has not contacted Egypt as recently reported, and there aren't any intentions to call off the game."No Algerian players were injured – EFA
, by Hatem Maher, FilGoal.com, 12 November 2009
Khairi Morsi, the Egyptian driver who drove the Algerian delegation's bus, said the Algerian team had assaulted him. He indicated to Modern Sport TV that "they also shattered the windows from inside when they saw some Egyptian people around the bus." On Friday 13 November, FIFA declared the match would go ahead as scheduled, but "asked the Egyptian Football Association and the highest national authorities through the relevant ministries to provide written guarantees that confirm the implementation of the necessary additional safety and security measures at any time for the Algerian delegation." Ech-Chorouk reported that six Algerian fans were killed in the chaos that followed the match. This was denied by Algeria's ambassador in Cairo, Abdel Qader Hadjar, who said only eleven people had been injured. Egypt's Health Ministry reported 20 Algerians and 12 Egyptians injured. Reda City 16, a well-known Algerian rapper, claimed his brother had died in the Cairo incidents. His claims, made on a
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
video posting, were disseminated by the ''Ech-Chorouk'' newspaper's internet site. There were attacks on Egyptian interests in Algeria after the match. EgyptAir's Algiers bureau was broken into and a "serious" amount of damage done and the office was closed due to health and safety concerns. Stones were hurled at other buildings. The headquarters of
Djezzy Djezzy (in ) is one of Algeria's three main mobile network operators, with a market share of 65% (over 16.49 million subscribers in December 2016) and a network covering 90% of the population (48 wilayas). Djezzy is wholly owned by the Algerian st ...
, an Algerian subsidiary of the Egyptian
Orascom group Orascom Construction PLC (OC; ) is an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor based in Cairo, Egypt. The company was Egypt's first multinational corporation. OC is active in more than 25 countries. History OC was established ...
, was vandalised and looted. Allegedly related was the Algerian government's demand from Orascom for US$596m in back taxes. An Egyptian plane sent to Algeria to "rescue" citizens was refused permission to land. In
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
, 500 police were deployed to quell disturbances by Algerian youths, making eight arrests. As a result of these events, on 18 May 2010, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee sanctioned and fined the
Egyptian Football Association The Egyptian Football Association () is the governing body of association football in Egypt. A member of FIFA since 1923 and a founding member of the CAF, the EFA has jurisdiction over the Egyptian football league system and is responsible for ...
for not adopting the necessary measures to prevent the assault on the bus of the Algerian delegation on the way from the airport to the hotel on 12 November 2009. The report would also admonish the Egyptian Football Association for failures in maintaining security and order in the
Cairo International Stadium The Cairo International Stadium (), formerly known as Nasser Stadium, is an Olympic-standard, multi-use stadium with an all-seated capacity of 75,000. The architect of the stadium is the German Werner March, who designed the Olympiastadion (Berli ...
for the game between Egypt and Algeria held on 14 November 2009. This would result in a two-game ban for the Egyptian national football team whereby the first two home matches of the preliminary competition for the
2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...
in Brazil would be played at a location at least 100 kilometres away from Cairo.Egypt to play two matches outside Cairo
by FIFA.com, 18 May 2010
* Algeria, Egypt and Zambia qualified for the
2010 African Cup of Nations The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange (telecommunications), Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial association football, football championship of Africa (Confederat ...
.


Omdurman match

The teams finished level on 13 points and level on all
tiebreakers In games and sport, a tiebreaker or tiebreak is any method used to determine a winner or to rank participants when there is a tie - meaning two or more parties have achieved a same score or result. A tiebreaker provides the additional criterion ...
:
goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...
in all group matches (+5); goals scored in all group matches (9); points in all Algeria–Egypt matches (3); and goal difference in all Algeria–Egypt matches (0). (The
away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...
was not used as a group-stage tiebreaker). The teams met in a one-game play-off to decide the qualifier. To determine the match venue, each team selected a country other than their own (Algeria selected
Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
and Egypt selected
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
). After Sudan was drawn in a lottery on 11 November, the
Al Merreikh Stadium Al-Merrikh Stadium, also known as the Red Castle, is a multi-use stadium in Omdurman, Sudan, used mostly for football matches and also sometimes for athletics. Established in 1962. The stadium is used mostly for football games and is considered ...
in Omdurman was selected by FIFA as the venue for the play-off. The decision to play a tie-breaking playoff game to determine who qualifies to the
2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...
was controversial because despite the fact that Algeria and Egypt were level on all tiebreakers listed above, Egypt would have qualified based on the away goals rule, which was used to determine the winner of a tie in the case of a tiebreaker in both previous and subsequent qualifiers.
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
reported that 15,000 police were mobilised for the match. Embassies advised their nationals to avoid the stadium area; government offices and schools closed early. Scuffles leading to minor injuries were reported. On Monday 16 November,
Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...
reported that Algerian fans had stoned a bus carrying the Egyptian players from a training session, without causing injury. The following day, Sudan President
Omar al-Bashir Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir (born 1 January 1944) is a Sudanese former military officer and politician who served as Head of state of Sudan, Sudan's head of state under various titles from 1989 until 2019, when he was deposed in 2019 Sudanese c ...
hosted a function in the
Presidential Palace A presidential palace is the official residence of the president in some countries. Some presidential palaces were once the official residences to monarchs in former monarchies that were preserved during those states' transition into republics. ...
in
Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...
, in which
Algerian Football Federation The Algerian Football Federation (AFF); () is the governing body of Association football, football in Algeria. Formed in 1962 and was based in the capital Algiers. It has jurisdiction on the Algerian football league system and is in charge of th ...
head
Mohamed Raouraoua Mohamed Raouraoua (; born 12 September 1947 in Casbah, Algiers, French Algeria) is the former president of the Algerian Football Federation, and the vice-president of the Union of Arab Football Associations. Biography He was first elected as presi ...
snubbed his Egyptian counterpart
Samir Zaher Samir (also spelled Sameer) is a male name found commonly in South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia. In Arabic, Samir () means "holy", "jovial", "loyal", or "charming". In Albanian, it literally means "so good" but loosely "exquisite", ...
. Each team's fans were allocated 9,000 tickets, with the stadium capacity reduced from 41,000 to 36,000; there were fears of ticketless fans congregating outside. Although the countries' own blocks were strictly segregated, many Algerian and Egyptian fans purchased tickets allocated to the home Sudanese. Locals estimated the actual attendance at up to 50,000.


Details


Aftermath

Egyptian media ran many stories about attacks that allegedly happened in Sudan. ''
Al-Ahram ''Al-Ahram'' (; ), founded on 5 August 1876, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second-oldest after '' Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriyya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majority owned by the Egyptian governm ...
'', a state-owned Egyptian newspaper, reported that buses designated for Egyptian fans to be taken to the airport had been destroyed, forcing them to walk there under escort of the Sudanese army. Egypt's foreign ministry spoke of "Egypt's extreme displeasure with the assaults on Egyptian citizens who went to Khartoum to support the Egyptian team". Algerian diplomats said later that a widely broadcast video showing hundreds of Algerian fans brandishing knives had in fact been taken at an Algerian club match several years earlier. According to ''
Al-Ahram ''Al-Ahram'' (; ), founded on 5 August 1876, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second-oldest after '' Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriyya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majority owned by the Egyptian governm ...
'', Sudanese diplomats suggested "scores" of Egyptians had been attacked and "a few" hurt. Egypt's health ministry later said there had been 20 deaths this day. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' reported "no widespread rioting". After the loss of the match, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) filed a complaint with
FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
against the Algerian football delegation. The EFA indicated that "Egyptian fans, officials and players put their lives at risk before and after the match under threat from weapons, knives, swords and flares". The statement also threatened with the Egyptian team's withdrawal for two years from all international competitions as a sign of protest. On 18 May 2010, FIFA announced that conditions for opening disciplinary proceedings have not been met and closed the complaint. About 12,000 Algerian fans celebrated on the
Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an Avenue (landscape), avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc ...
in Paris and a lot more across France. However, among the numerous celebrating crowd, some offenders made the most of the situation to loot one supermarket and torch cars. There were 150 arrests across France. Egypt's ambassador to the UK claimed thousands of fans had to flee to the airport for safety. Sudan summoned the Egyptian ambassador to protest at the media coverage of the Sudanese hosting of the match. That evening, over 1,000 Egyptians protested near the Algerian embassy in
Zamalek Zamalek ( , ''al zamalek'') is a ''qism'' (ward) within the West District (''hayy gharb'') in the Western Area of Cairo, Egypt. It is an affluent district on a man-made island which is geologically a part of the west bank of the Nile River, wit ...
, Cairo, burning flags, shouting anti-Algerian slogans and damaging cars and shops. The Interior Ministry said 11 police and 24 protesters were injured, and 20 people arrested.


Subsequent events

On Friday,
Alaa Mubarak Alaa Mohammed Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (;  ; born 26 November 1960) is an Egyptian businessman and the elder of two sons of Hosni Mubarak, the former President of Egypt who served from 1981 to 2011, and his wife, Suzanne Mubarak. Early li ...
telephoned a
talk show A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (201 ...
, saying "We are Egyptian and we hold our head high, and whoever insults us should be smacked on his head."
Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st Prime Minister of Egypt, prime minister from 1981 to ...
said on national television that he would not condone the "humiliation" of Egyptians abroad. However, the Foreign Ministry said the government would not "tolerate violations against Algerian interests", suggesting a clampdown on protests. Diplomats meeting to repair relations the next week reportedly characterised the dispute as "ultimately a fight among soccer fans" that "was picked up and inflamed by some elements in the media". An article in ''
al-Ahram ''Al-Ahram'' (; ), founded on 5 August 1876, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second-oldest after '' Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriyya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majority owned by the Egyptian governm ...
'' suggested that the Egyptians attending the match were mainly wealthy people who could afford to travel, rather than "the really tough fans" who could have defended themselves against assaults. The two sides met again in Angola in January, for the
2010 Africa Cup of Nations The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was held in Angola, where it began on 10 January 2 ...
semi-finals. Egypt cruised to a 4–0 victory, en route to an unprecedented 7th tournament win, in a hotly tempered match where Algeria had three players red carded. Match referee Coffi Codjia was indefinitely suspended by the
Confederation of African Football The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is the administrative and controlling body for association football, beach soccer, and futsal in Africa. It was established on 8 February 1957 at the ''Grand Hotel'' in Khartoum, Sudan. At the FIFA Co ...
for failing to send off Algerian goalkeeper Faouzi Chaouchi for headbutting the match official, only awarding the player a yellow card for the incident. Chaouchi was later one of the players to be dismissed, for a second bookable offence. He received a three match ban by CAF for the headbutt. A meeting of Egyptian sports organisations agreed to be "prudent" when hosting events at which Algerians were competing, and not to travel to competitions in Algeria. The
Egyptian Handball Federation The Egyptian Handball Federation (EHF) (') is the governing body of handball and beach handball in Egypt. EHF was founded in 1957, joined the International Handball Federation in 1960, and the African Handball Confederation in 1973. EHF is also a ...
was due to host the African Championships in February 2010; after a request for postponement was denied by the
African Handball Confederation The African Handball Confederation (acronym CAHB, referring to ) is the administrative and controlling body for African team handball. Founded on 15 January 1973 after the 1973 All-Africa Games, 2nd All-Africa Games in Lagos (Nigeria), it represe ...
, it withdrew as host, but said it would still field a team. The CAHB canvassed for a new host, with only Algeria volunteering. The Egyptian federation announced it would host the tournament after all.
FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
opened disciplinary proceedings against the Egyptian FA for its handling of the Algerian team's security in Cairo. On 23 November FIFA announced that its executive committee would hold an
extraordinary general meeting An extraordinary general meeting, commonly abbreviated as EGM, is a meeting of members of an organisation, shareholders of a company, or employees of an official body that occurs at an irregular time.' The term is usually used where the group wo ...
on 2 December in
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
, where members were already due to meet to discuss the seedings for the World Cup, to discuss recent controversies. The Egypt–Algeria match was expected to figure, along with the dispute over France's handball goal against Ireland, and the investigation into a major
match-fixing In organized sports, match fixing (also known as game fixing, race fixing, throwing, rigging, hippodroming, or more generally sports fixing) is the act of playing or officiating a contest with the intention of achieving a predetermined result, v ...
scam. FIFA's disciplinary committee was asked to launch an investigation; it was expected that the Algerian member of the committee would be
recused Recusal is the legal process by which a judge, juror, or other adjudicator steps aside from participating in a case due to potential bias, conflict of interest, or appearance of impropriety. This practice is fundamental to ensuring fairness and ...
. A report was expected by February 2010; Algeria's place at the World Cup finals was not in jeopardy. On 20 November 2009, the
Egyptian Football Association The Egyptian Football Association () is the governing body of association football in Egypt. A member of FIFA since 1923 and a founding member of the CAF, the EFA has jurisdiction over the Egyptian football league system and is responsible for ...
withdrew its membership from the
Union of North African Football The Union of North African Football (UNAF; ; ) is an association football organising body. It was launched in 2005 by the North African members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. The post ...
(UNAF), which also includes Algeria as a member. A few days later, on 25 November, Egyptian intellectuals signed a statement condemning the media hype and political manipulation of the dispute.
Bouthaina Shaaban Bouthaina Shaaban (; born 1953) is a Syrian politician who served as political and media adviser to the presidency under Bashar al-Assad until his overthrow in 2024. Shaaban had also previously served as the first Minister of Expatriates for th ...
, an advisor to
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
n President
Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...
, condemned the dispute as distracting Arabs from the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...
. There were reports that Libya's
Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...
and
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
had each offered to mediate in the dispute. On 26 November,
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
reported that a Sudanese mediation plan was nearing agreement. On 1 December, ''al-Ahram'' reported that a village in the
New Valley Governorate New Valley (or El Wadi El Gedid ( , )) is a governorate of Egypt. It is in the southwestern part of the country, in the south of Egypt Western Desert (part of the Sahara Desert), between the Nile, northern Sudan, and southeastern Libya. Comp ...
had applied to change its name from ''al-Jaza'ir'' ("Algeria") to ''Mubarak al-misriyin'' ("
Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st prime minister from 1981 to 1982. He was previously ...
for Egyptians"). A
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
oil company announced on 6 December was seen as heralding a recovery in relations between the two countries. It was reported that Egypt would not return its ambassador to Algiers unless compensation was paid for damage to Egyptian property in Algeria. ''al-Ahram'' reported on 10 December that inflammatory media reports in both countries had been ended by order of the respective Presidents, following mediation by Gaddafi and al-Bashir. Efforts by the UAE FA to broker an accord between the Egyptian and Algerian FAs were endorsed by
Sepp Blatter Joseph Sepp Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former association football, football administrator who served as the list of Presidents of FIFA, eighth president of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participatin ...
.


Analyses

Algeria claimed there was an orchestrated media campaign to damage its reputation and to create a fictitious enemy to Egypt, to rally the masses behind
Gamal Mubarak Gamal Al Din Muhammad Hosni Sayed Mubarak (, ; born 27 December 1963) is the younger of the two sons of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and former First Lady Suzanne Mubarak. In contrast to his older brother Alaa, Gamal had pursued an ...
and give him some legitimacy in his bid to inherit the presidency from his father. Foreign analysts suggested both governments encouraged protests about football to channel public discontent away from political issues. Jack Shenker suggests the anger was fomented primarily by the sensationalist media, with belated political endorsement. Others saw the violence as an expression of a general public malaise. On 22 November 2009, ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'' suggested an opposition backlash was building in Egypt to President Mubarak's stoking of the dispute. On 10 December, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' made similar observations. An
Arab League The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...
spokesperson proposed that, in the future, celebrities and political leaders should not attend sensitive matches, lest they feed into public passions. Official planes had carried 200 Algerian MPs to the Cairo match, and 133 Egyptian celebrities to the Khartoum match.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2009 Egypt-Algeria World Cup Dispute Egypt-Algeria World Cup Dispute Egypt-Algeria World Cup Dispute
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
qual Egypt-Algeria World Cup Dispute 2009 Algeria–Egypt relations Egypt-Algeria World Cup Dispute 2009 International association football competitions hosted by Sudan Egypt-Algeria World Cup Dispute 2009 Egypt-Algeria
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
Egypt-Algeria Egypt-Algeria World Cup Dispute Egypt-Algeria World Cup Dispute Algeria v Egypt football matches Algeria v Egypt football matches Controversies in Algeria Controversies in Egypt