ALGERIAN PATRIOTS - ENGLISH

AFCON 2025 will remain one of the most controversial editions in the recent history of African football — not for its spectacle, but for the blatant inequality in the treatment of participants: an Algeria heavily sanctioned, and a host nation, Morocco, consistently spared. The facts are clear, documented, and stubborn: CAF chose its target. 1. Algeria hit with exemplary — and disproportionate — sanctions Following the Algeria–Nigeria quarter-final on January 10, 2026, CAF imposed an unprecedented avalanche of penalties on the Algerian Football Federation: Luca Zidane suspended for two matches (AFCON 2027 qualifiers) Rafik Belghali suspended for four matches , including two with a suspended ban Total fines of around 100,000 USD , including: multiple yellow cards (5,000 USD), inappropriate behaviour by players and officials (25,000 USD), use of flares (5,000 USD), throwing objects (5,000 USD), security breaches (10,000 USD), offensive gestures by supporters (50,000 USD). Such cumul...

The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations , hosted by Morocco at the cost of billions, was supposed to mark the kingdom’s definitive entry into the circle of major global sporting powers. Instead, it will be remembered as one of the most controversial editions—not for its level of play, but for what it revealed: the exposure of an institutionalized cheating system, planned long in advance, executed behind the scenes of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and ultimately thwarted on the field by what many have called, not without irony, a form of poetic justice. Morocco’s defeat in the final against Senegal (1–0, on January 18, 2026) does not erase the scandal; it sheds light on it. A CAN under suspicion from the first whistle Throughout the tournament, the Moroccan team benefited from refereeing decisions that were unanimously contested. From the group stage match against Mali, then against Tanzania in the round of 16 and Cameroon in the quarterfinals, clear penalties against Morocco we...

What began as a fleeting on-field gesture by Algerian international Mohamed Amoura following Algeria’s 1–0 victory over the Democratic Republic of Congo in the AFCON round of 16 quickly escalated into a symbolic and political controversy, inflated far beyond its original sporting context. In the aftermath of qualification, Amoura performed a gesture interpreted as mockery toward a Congolese supporter in the stands. Within hours, the incident was stripped of its emotional and situational context and recast as an affront to a deeply rooted historical symbol. From Sporting Banter to Historical Symbolism The supporter in question, Michel Nkuka Mboladinga , has become an iconic figure of this AFCON for his silent embodiment of Patrice Lumumba , the martyred Congolese independence leader and one of Africa’s most powerful anti-colonial symbols. Elegantly dressed in the colors of the Congolese flag , Nkuka stands motionless throughout matches in a posture replicating the statue overlooking ...

Shortly before 2 a.m., Caracas was jolted awake by a series of explosions followed by the sound of low‑flying aircraft. Images and eyewitness accounts reported smoke near military installations—particularly around La Carlota —as well as power outages in several districts of the capital. Early news dispatches confirmed at least seven blasts and prolonged overflights above the city. During this same timeframe, international media pinpointed impacts and plumes of smoke around major installations (La Carlota and Fuerte Tiuna), while the Venezuelan executive denounced a “military aggression” targeting civilian and military sites in Caracas and in the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira, declaring a state of emergency. Videos circulating online showed helicopters attributed to U.S. special operations forces ( 160th SOAR , MH‑47 and possibly MH‑60 ) flying at very low altitude over the capital, in what appeared to be a raid‑type operation—penetration, extraction, and close air support. ...

It has now become clear that, for Morocco, football is no longer merely a sport: it has been elevated into a national doctrine , a pillar of identity serving a political narrative. What should have remained the ordinary organization of a continental competition has turned into a politico‑media ritual , where each match must demonstrate a form of symbolic superiority, and every result is interpreted as proof of national prowess. Within this inflated narrative, football becomes the alpha and the omega : an instrument of economic promotion, a mask covering social fragilities, a diplomatic lever, and, above all, a symbolic weapon directed at a neighbor constantly present in the discourse: Algeria , even when it is not involved. The recent article published by Hespress illustrates this drift with striking clarity. Beneath the surface of sporting celebration, one finds an excessive fixation on Algeria , fueled by anxious anticipation of reactions that, in reality, do not exist. According to...

The recent article published by Hespress , portraying the so-called “precision strikes” of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces against the Polisario Front , reads less like strategic analysis than military communication masquerading as journalism. Beneath its technical vocabulary and self-congratulatory tone lies a carefully crafted narrative designed to normalize a political impasse, sanitize legally questionable practices, and equate technological superiority with legitimacy. Rewriting Responsibility The article opens with the familiar claim that Morocco is exercising “restraint and wisdom” in response to Polisario “low-intensity provocations.” This framing deliberately obscures a fundamental fact acknowledged in official UN reports : it was Morocco’s military intervention at Guerguerat in November 2020 that effectively ended the 1991 ceasefire . Since then, the conflict has not been “frozen” but has entered a phase of sustained low-intensity warfare , for which Rabat bears primary...