TRIPOLI - Libyan leader Moamer Gathafi has offered his services as referee in a bitter row between Algeria and Egypt over this month's World Cup qualifiers, official media said on Tuesday.
Source: Middle East Online
- World football's governing body FIFA has already announced that it has opened disciplinary proceedings against Egypt over fan violence against Algerian players before their closing qualifying round tie on November 12.
- But that has not prevented a diplomatic row between the North African rivals in which a stung Egypt has pulled out Union of North African Football Federations, complaining that Algerian fans had thrown stones at its supporters at the deciding play-off in Sudan which Algeria eventually won.
- "As chairman of the African Union, the Guide of the Revolution (Gathafi) is going to work to bridge the gulf that has opened up between Egypt and Algeria," Libya's official JANA news agency reported.
- The news agency said that Gathafi had agreed to play the role of mediator following a request from Arab League chief Amr Mussa, who is himself Egyptian, JANA added.
- Khartoum as well as Algiers lodged a complaint against Cairo over its protests at the game in Sudan. The Sudanese insisted that just a few Egyptian fans were slightly hurt, rejecting the Egyptian case.
- Algeria's 1-0 victory in the play-off meant that it took the final African berth for next year's finals in South Africa.
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