On October 6, 2001, the France-Algeria friendly match in Saint-Denis was stopped fifteen minutes from the end, after the pitch was invaded by Algerian supporters.
Almost 21 years later, Emmanuel Macron pleads for a new meeting to take place.
"I think it would be a good thing to ward off the past," replied the French head of state visiting Algeria, when questioned by journalists on the subject.
"We are obviously going to talk about it with the president [Abdelmadjid Tebboune] and his teams, it's not for me to say, and then it will also depend on the chance of the competitions to come, for some, I wish us," said he said, after a long visit to the European cemetery of Saint-Eugene, in the suburbs of Algiers.
Culture and sport as tools for rapprochement
"I think that sport must reconcile, so that's why, tomorrow in Oran, I will be with our athletes in anticipation of the 2024 Olympics" organized in Paris, he added.
"Culture, as I mentioned yesterday in the press conference, and sport, these are areas where we must be together, so sometimes we can compete, but we compete in a friendly way", insisted Emmanuel Macron .
The French president and his Algerian counterpart, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, sealed their reconciliation on Thursday after months of diplomatic quarrels, particularly around French colonization (1830-1962).
World
Emmanuel Macron continues his visit to Algeria to "build the future"
Company
Emmanuel Macron announces the creation of a commission of French and Algerian historians on colonization
Sport
Soccer
Algeria
Emmanuel Macron
France football team