The Egyptians summon the Algerian envoy twice, recall their envoy from Algiers. Sudan summons the Egyptian envoy in Khartoum. The Algerian embassy is currently under siege in Cairo with thousands of fans trying to storm their compound. It's all happening in rapid succession.
Now Egypt has upped the ante threatening to pull out of football for two years in protest of what happened to fans, sports officials, and players in Sudan.
It is no coincidence that these actions like recalling the Egyptian envoy to Algeria and now threatening withdrawal is happening while FIFA has launched disciplinary investigations into what happened in Cairo. It gives the Egyptians a moral high ground by manufacturing outrage, so very opposite to the genuine sense of injustice that the Irish feel at possibly missing out on the World Cup.
One of the overlooked aspects of this imbroglio is the fact that the Egyptians exploited their historical ties with Sudan to take sides before the match. The reaction to their overtures was decidedly lukewarm. After the match was over, the Egyptian media accused Sudan of not protecting their citizens in some isolated and minor incidents. This angered the Sudanese government who summoned the Egyptian envoy to register their protest at these unfair accusations and lack of appreciation at accommodating a match of this magnitude at short notice.
The Algerians are also turning the screws by slapping Djezzy, the Algerian subsidiary of Egyptian telecom giant Orascom, with a $596.6 million bill for outstanding taxes.
The match is long forgotten.
Response to Patrick!
Patrick do you really call the so called win of france a honorable win...i feel sorry for your low esteem!!! algeria won and deseves to win! and the whole world knows that except some ignorants, who do not even gather all their facts rights!
1 2 3 viva l'Algerie!
Please research. Below links will help you get started.
Source: http://elurl.com/4tp
Google translate in English: http://elurl.com/4vu
Algerian news: "Miltary jets transport Algerian fans to Sudan"
http://elurl.com/4vv
Tens of Algerian fans chanting and waving knives ahead of the match
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA_pwTdJIPk
Also, worth mentioning, Algerian media reported and showed amateur videos of a "dead" Algerian fan in Cairo. (yes, you can see him dead) However, just Thursday, the "martyr" was reported alive by his family.
http://www.ennaharonline.com/en/news/2457.html
Thank you.
Patrick,
I do know about 1989. I also know that the Algerian players were bleeding when they were attacked in Cairo. So these were real injuries. Actually, the whole world saw the evidence except for the Egyptians who continue to deny it. You might claim that you were the better team but that was not on display in Khartoum. Blame Ronnie Shehata who should have put Mohamed Zidan on earlier. He might have made the difference. The Egyptians lost fair and square. You are making yourselves out to be victims when you are not.
Who are you? What do you know? Clearly nothing. Your memory is non-existent. You think this all began with a few rocks thrown by a few youths at an Algerian bus that gave no one real injuries?
It started in 1982 when the Algerians hosting a match between Egypt and Libya helped the Libyans attack the Egyptian players and fans after Egypt won.
It was further in 1989, when after losing to Egypt in a qualifier 1-0 in Cairo the Algerian players rioted and one of them BLINDED the Egyptian team doctor with a bottle.
Or even as recently as June of this year when the Algerians gave the Egyptian players food poisoning (why do you think Algeria brought their own chef) and honked horns outside the hotel all day. Do you really think Algeria, which didn't even qualify to the last two African cups, is skilled enough to beat Egypt which WON those two tournaments?
The Algerians attacked Egyptians in Algiers and France after their loss on Saturday. They looted FIFTEEN offices of Djezzy and the Egyptair office, stealing nearly $15 million worth of equipment. Then their government slaps this absurd tax? This is how they treat their largest foreign investor in the non-gas sector? And then IN SUDAN, the Algerians sent planeloads of thugs who brought knives and attacked the Egyptian fans after the match even though they won. Disgusting. They are barbarians. Everyone with two ounces of sense knows that the Egyptians deserve to be in the World Cup more than the Algerians and that if the referee had actually continued calling fouls in the second half and giving adequate amounts of extra time and given the corner in the last play of the game, the winners would be Egypt. But after Algeria scored, the referee, and especially the linesman were so mortified of being killed by Algerian fans that they stopped calling the match fairly. This was disgusting. At least in France-Ireland, the better team won. Not the case here.