Football: when Algerian players campaigned for independence
Undated photo of Algerian player Rachid Mekhloufi (R).
AFP-STF
Text by: Farid Achache Follow
4 mins
Some football teams have gone down in history.
This is the case of the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) team.
She formed the eleven of independence with the hope of making the Algerian cause known to the eyes of the whole world.
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Algeria's independence, this July 5, a look back at a history of football and politics.
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On April 15, 1958, nine Algerian footballers, all professional players in the most prestigious clubs in the French championship, left France illegally.
Mustapha Zitouni, Abdelaziz Bentifour, Kaddour Bekhloufi, Abderrahmane Boubeker, Rachid Mekhloufi, Amar Rouaï, Abdelhamid Kermali, Saïd Brahimi and Abdelhamid Bouchouk spin the English way and join Tunis, seat of the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (GPRA) led by Ferhat Abbas .
Here they are, forming the very first Algerian national football team.
The task of selecting the players is assigned to Mohamed Boumezrag, who is director of the Algerian regional sub-division of the French Football Federation (FFF).
Several "runaways" had already worn the blue jersey
Only two months before the start of the World Cup in Sweden, the FLN achieves a media stunt.
Several "runaways" had already worn the blue jersey and were already preselected to accompany Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine.
These last two as well as Roger Piantoni send a postcard of support to Mustapha Zitouni from Sweden to support the Algerian cause.
Mustapha Zitouni, Abdelaziz Ben Tifour, who participated in the 1954 World Cup and the talented Rachid Mekhloufi, nugget of the time who led Saint-Étienne to the first title of French champion in its history in 1957, are no longer supposed to represent the Blues at the World Cup.
But not everyone wanted to miss the planetary rendezvous.
Mekhloufi, who at this time was doing his military service in the French army, became a de facto deserter liable to be tried by court martial if caught.
All have abandoned a life full of glory and left aside a participation in the World Cup, the Holy Grail for a football player.
But joining the struggle for independence could not be without consequences.
Received by Egyptian President Nasser
With them, football became a propaganda tool to achieve independence.
From Tunis, the eleven begins a world tour of more than 80 matches in the four corners of the world.
The players face national teams from friendly countries, which also embrace the Algerian independence cause.
They are received by Egyptian President Nasser, King Hussein of Jordan, Tito in Yugoslavia, or even Mao Zedong in China.
They are nicknamed the “
Harlem Globetrotters of football
”.
In Baghdad, in February 1959, the Algerian flag was raised for the first time before a football match, despite threats from Fifa and the anger of the French Embassy.
Unanimously condemning the lack of professionalism of these players, the FFF terminated their contract and France imposed a media embargo.
At the same time, it warns Fifa, which prohibits all its members from facing the FLN team.
Some national federations are paying dearly for rubbing shoulders with this team hated by the international football body: Tunisia and Morocco have seen their applications to join Fifa rejected.
Morocco shows its support for the cause of Algerian independence.
four years of travel
After four years of travel and 83 matches (57 wins, 14 draws and 12 losses) around the world, the FLN team returns to the country, following the signing of the Évian agreements on July 5, 1962, putting an end to the war and offering independence to Algeria.
Ferhat Abbas, president of the first Algerian National Assembly in 1962, thanked the players who signed up for the FLN football team: “
You have saved the cause of independent Algeria ten years.
"
It is obvious that we attach extreme importance to the behavior of this team, because it will represent, through its exhibitions abroad, the image of a people fighting for its independence
", he said when the players had arrived for the first time in Tunis.
A few hours after the signing of the Evian agreements, Fifa will recognize its national team.
"
We were going to play football for total freedom, in short for a noble cause
", confided Rachid Mekhloufi, several decades later.
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