The Algeria national football team is at the center of events after the clash with Egypt in the World Cup qualifiers. The match led to a crisis between the two countries that has not yet been resolved. The media in both countries exchanged sharp attacks, and the Algerian media strongly criticized the attack on the Algerian team's bus in Cairo. Egyptian channels also condemned the attacks on Egyptian fans in Khartoum. We asked some Egyptians and Algerians about their opinions on the crisis, and these are their views. We hope you will also share your opinions and comments. The recent events that occurred after the Egypt-Algeria match held in Sudan indicate that there are deep-seated differences between the two countries. Unfortunately, in the Arab world, we only know how to "tap" on problems, and this prevents us from going deeper. I am surprised by what happened after a football match in which the Algerian team emerged victorious. Is it reasonable for the situation to escalate to this level of anger and turn into a gang war?. We cannot, in such situations, search for who is responsible, in my opinion, the responsibility lies with the Egyptian and Algerian leaderships, and also there is a responsibility on the media of both countries, where the Egyptian media was accused of incitement, and in Algeria, it was accused of provocation. There is a crisis, and the crisis can only be resolved by political leaders, in short, Presidents Mubarak and Bouteflika. The matter requires a long time for the relations between the two countries or rather the peoples to return to normal, because what happened is a form of deep wounds that are difficult to forget, perhaps the official leaderships will forgive these insults, but will the people forgive and forget what happened to them?. In my opinion, the matter is not just a football match and excessive enthusiasm between two peoples who wish their team to reach the World Cup. The matter is much bigger than that.. There is a state of anger and hatred towards Egypt that no one knows the reason for. We traveled to Khartoum to support our national team. There were many artists, media professionals, and fans among us. We all went to cheer for the Egyptian team, but no one could have imagined or expected what happened to us there. We were surprised that the Algerian team's fans were present three days before the match, preparing to buy white weapons, as if the matter was a war and not a football match. Does the matter deserve all this and everything that happened? As Egyptian fans in Khartoum, we felt that the Algerian fans were there not only to support their team but also to take revenge. Revenge from whom and why? We do not know. We were all surprised by the amount of anger and hatred. In my opinion, for the relations to return to normal, Algeria must first apologize to Egypt for what happened. The problem is that we Egyptians have been lenient with Algeria in the past. It happened that the Algerian player Akhdar Beloumi attacked an Egyptian doctor and caused him an injury in one of his eyes, and then he left Egypt without punishment on the basis that we are brothers in Arabism! And after a while, they remembered the problem and prevented him from entering Egypt. But the Egyptian government should not be lenient with us this time. It is unreasonable for Egyptian families to go to Sudan and be beaten, as we saw with our own eyes, without reason except that they were cheering for their country's team. I want to know why the Algerians hate us? We do not hate the Algerian people, but we reject what the Algerian fans did in Sudan. The relationship can be fixed again, but Algeria must apologize, government and people, for what they did to the Egyptian fans. And without an apology, the relationship will remain tense, and we demand that our government not neglect our rights this time. The Egyptian media is responsible for amplifying the issue and turning it into a problem. There was no problem between Egyptians and Algerians in the first place. For example, I used to love and respect Egyptians, but they treated us very badly. Is it reasonable for the Egyptian media to describe Algerians as barbaric, savage, and terrorist...? This is a flaw.. a big flaw on the part of the Egyptian broadcasters. I and my friends decided not to watch Egyptian channels after we heard a lot of insults against us as Algerians. I respect the history that unites the two countries and respect the support of Abdel Nasser for the Algerian revolution, and the support of President Boumedienne for Egypt during the October war, but the Egyptian media forgot all that, and even forgot that we are brothers in Arabism.
Opinion
Algeria national football team dominates headlines after Egypt clash
Review of the conflict between Algeria and Egypt after the World Cup match, Algeria national football team in the spotlight
Algeria Hub