Egypt vs. Algeria – the nasty politics of football

1) The nationalistic bombast and insults which preceded the first match – Egypt outdid Algeria here – show how little brotherly love exists today between Arab countries. Pan Arab nationalism is long since dead replaced by an increasingly strident populism which in the years ahead risks posing far greater problems for the European Union in the Mediterranean than any misconstrued “clash of civilisations”.

2) Algerian youth were out en masse to support their beloved Fennecs but, beyond supporting the national team they were clamouring for their voice to be heard, recognised and respected by leaders who are often old and despise them openly. They are clamouring for jobs, houses, in other words hope for a better future. As people under the age of 30 represent two thirds of the population, Algerian leaders who felt happy to fan national feelings where football is concerned might not be aware they are riding a tiger.

3) The emotion felt in Algeria on Wednesday the 18th November was shared in neighbouring Tunisia and Morocco, in France and Belgium where large communities of North African origin live and in Gaza. Young people took to the streets on foot and in cars in Casablanca and Paris, shouting their delight that “we” had won against the Egyptians. “We” was the Maghreb: the feeling of sharing a common culture persists in North Africa despite more than thirty years of estrangement between Algeria and Morocco over the status of the Western Sahara. North African leaders are locked in their battle of yesteryear, incapable of offering a vision of the future to their young people.

4) Finally, as Akram Belkaid argued in Le Quotidien d’Oran on 26th November, part of Algeria’s success was due to the selection of young and professional players, some of whom came from European teams are were treated with respect by the Algerian football authorities. Why is it, he asked, the Algerian leaders cannot behave towards their talented diaspora overall like they do towards their footballers? This diaspora could play a key role in modernising Algeria, transmitting modern know how, in other words opening Algeria to the world. This would help create desperately needed jobs.

5) Egypt has long held North Africans in contempt for “not being Arab”, mere “Berbers and barbarians” as Mubarak’s sons so elegantly put it. These people are unable to speak the language of the Prophet properly, in other words arroubis (country bumpkins). Such insulting language gives the lie to the oft proclaimed Arab umma (community of the faithful). It also points to another, potentially more interesting political development: as Egypt fights to retain a central role in Arab politics which it is fast losing, “the Algerian lion has been awoken from its long slumber” in the words of a senior Libyan who is a keen observer of the region’s politics. In private senior Egyptians see the whole episode as a repeat of the Six Day War when they suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Israel.