Media and political organizations in Algeria were quick to accuse Morocco of being behind the riots that occurred on Saturday at the Ali La Pointe stadium in Algiers, during the first match between Mouloudia Club of Algiers and US Monastir of Tunisia, counting for the African Champions League qualifiers. The meeting was marred by the death of an Algerian supporter. On social networks, videos document violence between the public and security forces, as well as acts of destruction of stadium facilities.
Close to the Algerian inner circle, the Echorouk media outlet called for Mouloudia supporters to be protected against what it describes as an “orchestrated plot against Algeria”. The newspaper, which regularly blames Morocco for incidents in its country, alleged that the events were not the fault of Mouloudia supporters. Citing “informed and objective” but anonymous observers, the source believes that “all indicators clearly point to a (failed) attempt to exploit the club’s significant historical supporter base to harm Algeria and tarnish its image” .
The newspaper goes so far as to argue that “Rachad’s terrorist networks and their Makhzenian arms” would have been “mobilized to create a diversion and divert attention from a major scandal in Morocco, where young people are fleeing towards death rather than to stay and live there.
And added that Mouloudia should “now protect both its supporters and its reputation”. “Its millions of supporters must remain vigilant, so as not to serve as a pretext to damage the image of Algeria, especially since the club is in the running for an African championship,” says the media.
An Islamist party alleges Morocco’s responsibility
Joining the media cabal, the Islamist party El-Bina Movement described the events as “simple skirmishes and behavior in a sporting context”. However, he expressed his condemnation of what he considered to be a “scandalous propaganda campaign by the Moroccan regime”, accusing the latter of “making up lies”.
The training accused Morocco of having “distorted the facts of the incident” to “sow discord between the Algerian and Tunisian brothers” by trying to “exploit” the death of the supporter to “challenge the patriotism of security institutions” of the eastern neighbor and “damage the strong bond between the Algerian people and their popular national army”.
And to conclude with a “typical tactic employed by the Moroccan regime in order to divert the attention of its own population from the political, economic and social crises of the country”.
For its part, the Tunisian Football Federation (FTF) announced that it had filed a complaint with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the “abuses” suffered by the Monastir Union during the same match.
The complaint describes the “violent incidents” that took place and details “the attacks against the Monastir club delegation before, during and after the match,” the federation said in a statement.
