Algerian football players slightly injured in Cairo attack

Cairo (Earth Times - dpa) - Algerian football players were hurt Thursday when their bus was attacked by Egyptian national team fans throwing stones, a source at the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) said. The bus carrying players of Algeria's national football team was attacked shortly after they arrived in Cairo for Saturday's World Cup qualifier match, the source said, adding that the players were "slightly hurt" and there was nothing to worry about.

The bus had just left the airport and was heading to the hotel when some Egyptians attacked it, breaking the windows with stones, despite heavy security at Cairo airport.

Mohammed Rouaroa, the head of the Algerian Football Association, decided to protest to FIFA, the international football governing body, against the Egyptian football fans and EFA, the source said.

EFA is waiting for the decision by FIFA officials who were meeting to decide what action to take, the source said.

However, an Egyptian security source who spoke on condition of anonymity denied the incident and said that Egyptian fans had not attacked the bus.

They accused the Algerian team of "setting this up, especially that they had filed a complaint to the FIFA before and asked for observers to come to Cairo to follow up the preparation to the game."

Egyptians and Algerians are gearing up for Saturday's match, which will determine which of the two nations qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa. Fans waged an online war against each other for more than a month.

In 1989, both countries played to qualify for World Cup. Fans protested after Egypt won 1-0. Neither team has qualified for the World Cup since.