Coronavirus: the wrath of Algerian champion Taoufik Makhloufi, blocked in South Africa

Text by: Nicolas Bamba Follow

For four months, Taoufik Makhloufi has been stuck in Johannesburg, South Africa, because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Olympic track and field champion expressed his bitterness on social networks. He feels abandoned by the Algerian state, which defends itself.

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The summer of 2020 was to be placed under the sign of major sporting events (Copa America, Euro, usual Grand Slam tennis tournaments, Grand Tours…). At the start of July, most of the best athletes in the world should finish their preparations for the Tokyo Olympics. But the coronavirus pandemic hit the world earlier this year, and most major events have been postponed or canceled.

Taoufik Makhloufi , he suffered the consequences of the global health crisis. In mid-March, the Algerian arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa, as part of his training for the Olympic Games 2020. Four months later, he is still there, trapped by the pandemic, with no solution to regain the Algeria.

" I am hardly considered, even as an Olympic champion "

Like many tourists and expatriates around the world, Taoufik Makhloufi found himself stranded in a foreign country which had just decreed containment and closed its borders (March 27 in the case of South Africa ). The long-distance runner, active on social networks, finally let his anger explode on July 4.

“  Almost four months that I have been in South Africa (Johannesburg). There was no evacuation, not even a gesture on the part of the Algerian state so that I could return to the country. This shows that I am hardly considered, even as an Olympic champion who defended and honored the Algerian flag  , "he wrote on Facebook. It is not the first time that the runner has issued harsh criticisms of national sports bodies .

Triple Olympic medalist (gold over 1,500m at the London Olympics in 2012, silver over 800m and 1,500m at the Rio Olympics in 2016), Taoufik Makhloufi had already expressed his bitterness in recent weeks. On June 17, he wrote that it had been "  three months (94 days exactly)  " that he was stranded in South Africa and that he was waiting for a date to return to Algeria. And, with a touch of irony, the athlete posted on June 28 a map of Africa with a GPS route on foot between Johannesburg and Algiers, 9,851 kilometers long. "  That's the solution,  " he commented, faced with this hypothetical long crossing that would take him ... 83 days and 16 hours without stopping.

The ministry says it does everything to help athletes stranded abroad

Taoufik Makhloufi is not the only Algerian sportsman living in a delicate situation abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic. Several footballers have had to face the same ordeal, especially in Saudi Arabia. For example, Raïs M'Bolhi, the goalkeeper of the Fennecs and the Ettifaq club, was blocked between March and early May. In the absence of a solution from Algeria, the player was able to leave Saudi Arabia thanks to a flight chartered by France, the country where his family resides.

Alerted by the situation of Taoufik Makhloufi, Sid Ali Khladi, the Algerian Minister of Youth and Sports assured, on Facebook, to follow "  closely  " this affair and to be "  in permanent contact  " with the runner. "  The Ministry of Youth and Sports has not spared on the means to assure him a total care in Johannesburg, as well as other athletes who are stranded in Nairobi (Kenya) and the swimmers who are at Montreal (Canada). Despite the difficult situation and the closure of the majority of airports around the world due to the health crisis, we will do everything to repatriate our athletes as soon as possible,  "he wrote.

Taoufik Makhloufi, 32, world vice-champion in 1,500m in Doha (Qatar) on October 6, 2019 behind Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot, is the most successful Algerian sportsman at the Olympic Games with his three medals. He will seek at least one more during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics , which were scheduled from July 24 to August 9, 2020 and which have been postponed by a year, from July 23 to August 8, 2021.

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