ALGERIA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: Angry Algerian fans attack Egyptian offices over World Cup play-off
Record ID:
573733
ALGERIA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: Angry Algerian fans attack Egyptian offices over World Cup play-off
- Title: ALGERIA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: Angry Algerian fans attack Egyptian offices over World Cup play-off
- Date: 17th November 2009
- Summary: ALGIERS, ALGERIA (NOVEMBER 16, 2009) (REUTERS) ALGERIAN SUPPORTERS SINGING NEXT TO DJEZZY SALES OFFICE, SUBSIDIARY OF EGYPT'S ORASCOM TELECOM IN DIDOUCHE MOURAD INDUSTRIAL ZONE SALES OFFICE DAMAGED BY THE ALGERIAN SUPPORTERS. ALGERIAN SUPPORTERS CHANTING AND HOLDING UP NEWSPAPER'S PICTURES SAID TO SHOW A DEAD PERSON AND OTHERS INJURED BY EGYPTIAN SUPPORTERS IN EGYPT AFTER SATURDAY'S MATCH ALGERIAN SUPPORTERS HOLDING UP THE ALGERIAN FLAG AND CHANTING/LARGE GROUP OF FANS PACKED INTO STREET, ONE HOLDING UP AN AEROSOL CAN SPRAYING FIRE VIEWS OF EGYPTIAN ORASCOM TELECOM OFFICES IN DAR EL BEIDA DISTRICT POLICE PATROLLING AREA AROUND ORASCOM TELECOM OFFICES DAMAGE CAUSED BY ANGRY SUPPORTERS ALGERIAN FANS AT HOUARI BOUMEDIENE AIRPORT WHERE THEY HOPE TO BUY AIR TICKETS TO VISIT SUDAN FOR WORLD CUP PLAYOFF GAME
- Embargoed: 2nd December 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Algeria
- Country: Algeria
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Sports
- Reuters ID: LVA7RNF8CV5G8HISWCB9Y3ZQ9P80
- Story Text: Algerian football supporters in Algiers chanted and waved newspaper photographs on Monday (November 16) as they expressed anger at Egyptian fans' behaviour on Saturday (November 14) after their World Cup play-off first leg match.
Egypt won 2-0 in Cairo but reports that the Algerian team bus was stoned and Algerian fans were beaten up have built up tension between the two football rival countries.
Algerian supporters attacked the headquarters of the Algerian subsidiary of Egypt's Orascom Telecom smashing windows and destroying office equipment, the company said on Monday (November 16). During the day the supporters stood outside the offices to chant and take photographs of the damage with mobile phones.
The offices, in a suburb of Algiers, were attacked on Sunday night, a day after a soccer World Cup qualification match between Egypt and Algeria which sparked reports that Algerian supporters had been assaulted by rival fans.
Metal fencing surrounding the office complex was ripped down while inside the complex, computer monitors, office chairs and water coolers were lying on the ground, a Reuters reporter who visited the scene on Monday said.
Windows in a guardhouse were smashed in the attack. At least a dozen vehicles in the office car park had broken windows. Riot police with water cannon were parked outside the complex.
"During these acts of vandalism telephone and computer equipment was subject to ransacking, theft and looting," the subsidiary, which operates under the name Djezzy, said in a statement seen by Reuters.
Algerian media reported on Monday that several visiting supporters had died from their injuries after Egyptian fans attacked them following the match in Cairo, which Egypt won 2-0. Fans on Monday waved newspaper pages with photographs appearing to show injured people.
Abdelkader Hadjar, Algerian ambassador to Egypt, was quoted as saying by Algeria's official news agency APS that he had found no evidence of fatalities, but that 50 travelling supporters were injured while in Cairo.
Egyptian newspapers have published pictures of what they said were Algerian supporters rioting in Cairo's airport before leaving the country.
Orascom Telecom says that its subsidiary serves over 14.5 million mobile telephone customers in Algeria, giving it a 63.7 percent market share. It acquired a 15-year mobile telephone license in Algeria in 2001 for $737 million, according to its Internet site www.orascomtelecom.com.
Wednesday's (November 18) return leg of the play-off will determine which team goes to the World Cup finals in South Africa next year. After the fighting in Cairo Wednesday's game will be held in neutral Khartoum, Sudan, and Algierian fans went to the airport on Monday to try to book air tickets. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None