Zimbabwean football fans had a bad day on Sunday after their national team, Warriors, lost a late lead against Algeria to draw 2-2 in their first match of the ongoing AFCON 2017 tournament in Gabon.
Algeria had taken an early lead thanks to their top-class striker Riyad Mahrez, who successfully curled home a left-footed shot from six yards in the 11th minute, but the Warriors managed to level the score six minutes later.
Zimbabwe took the lead just a few minutes to the half-time whistle through a penalty kick that was brilliantly taken by Nyasha Mushekwi.
In the second half, Algeria was desperate for an equalizer, but the warriors maintained their excellent defense and almost got a third goal when their forward Khama Billiat managed to break away from the Algerian defense and launched a brilliant curl, which was impressively kept out by Rais M’Bolhi.
With only nine minutes left to play, Mahrez outpaced the seemingly tired Zimbabwean defense to level the score in a match that was described by many as the most entertaining game of the tournament thus far.
Racist Comments
As the world enjoyed the electrifying clash between Algeria, who are considered the possible favorites for the AFCON 2017 tournament, and Zimbabwe, who came to the competition as rank outsiders, a section of Algerian fans allegedly took to Twitter to hurl racist insults at Zimbabwean players calling them a “band of shit monkeys”, according to Les Observateurs.
This is against CAF’s code of conduct, which prohibits any form of football discrimination, including physical and verbal attacks on players.
Under this code of conduct, there are several disciplinary actions that can be taken against a team whose fans misbehave. Such actions include warning, reprimand, match suspension, fine, and return of prizes.
For many years, Algeria, whose people are predominantly Arabs, has been accused of discriminating against black Africans, with some Algerians even refusing to shake hands with Blacks.
Black migrants in Algiers – Algeria’s capital – and other big cities are often attacked by locals who accuse them of rape and other crimes.
