A week after the African Cup of Nations kicked off in Egypt, Algerian Haris Belkebla, Egypt’s Amr Warda and Malian Adama Niane have been booted out of their teams and sent home for apparent misconduct.
The Eagles forward was ejected from the team by Coach Mohamed Magassouba for lack of respect, as Mali prepare to meet Tunisia on Friday for their second group game of the tournament.
According to several media reports, Adama Niane had a dispute with his captain Abdoulaye Diaby the day after the Eagles coasted to a 4-1 victory over Mauritania.
Theere were heated exchanges after the arrival of a hairdresser at the players’ hotel in Suez.
The striker of Charleroi in Belgium had fumed after Diaby passed before him.
As for Egypt’s Pharaohs, midfielder Amr Warda was asked to leave the squad after several women accused him of sexual harassment on the internet.
“Amr Warda, who plays for PAOK Salonika, Greece is excluded from the national team following discussions with the technical and administrative bodies of the team,” said a statement from the federation on its website.
“It is to maintain the discipline and concentration of the team” that this decision was made, the release explains.
Reacting to this case, Liverpool FC and Egyptian star, Mohamed Salah tweeted on Thursday that “many who make mistakes can change for the better and should not be sent directly to the guillotine, which is the simplest solution. We must believe in second chances … we must guide and educate.”
Salah also stated in his message of support to his teammate that “women should be treated with utmost respect…No means no. These things are and must remain sacred”.
Mrwnwhile Warda has seen his suspension reduced, allowing the player ot return to the Egyptian side in the knockout stage of the competition, according to a statement from the country’s football association.
Before AFCON 2019 kicked off, the coach of Algeria’s Fennecs, Djamel Belmadi, had excluded Haris Belkebla for his attitude which was deemed inappropriate.
Selected for the first time in the national team, the French-born Algerian was removed from the squad for briefly showing his buttocks live on social media.
Haris Belkebla, who was hoping to celebrate his first selection with the green-jersey team, presented his “sincere apologies” for his “inappropriate gesture” via a statement posted on his Instagram.
He was nevertheless replaced by Mohammed Benkhemassa (USM Algiers).
Despite these locker room tensions, the three teams concerned have been doing well since the competition began.
In the second round of matches, Algeria beat Senegal 1-nil on Thursday and qualified for the round of 16 with 6 points.
Egypt eased to a 2-nil win over DR Congo on Wednesday.
The Eagles of Mali will have to prove their mettle on Friday afternoon against Tunisia (still looking for a victory), and truly put their locker room dispute behind them.
ODL/cat/fss/as/APA