Macron welcomes a friendly match between Algeria and France "to transcend the past"

French President Emmanuel Macron considered today, on the second day of his visit to Algeria, that a friendly football match between the "Roosters" and "Desert Warriors" teams "would be a good thing to overcome the past."

The French President is visiting Algeria on a three-day trip, aimed at "rebuilding" the bilateral relations between the two countries and turning the page on the differences that are still burdened by the burdens of the past, coinciding with the sixtieth anniversary of the end of the war and the declaration of Algeria's independence in 1962.

In response to a question about the possibility of holding a friendly match between the two countries’ teams, Macron said, “I think it would be a good thing to overcome the past,” especially since the last match that brought the two teams together was more than 20 years ago, specifically on October 6, 2001, and ended with the Algerian fans storming the stadium a quarter ago. An hour from the final whistle.

The French president added, "It is clear that we will talk about this with the president (Abdelmadjid Tebboune) and his team, I am not the one who decides, and it will also depend on what the upcoming (sports) competitions allow, for some, I wish us that."

"I think that sport must be reconciled, and that is why tomorrow I will be in Oran with our athletes in anticipation of the 2024 Olympic Games to be held in Paris," he added.

"Culture, as I mentioned yesterday at the press conference, and sports are two areas in which we (we and Algeria) must be together, so sometimes we can compete, but we compete in a friendly way," Macron emphasized.

On Thursday, the French president and his Algerian counterpart outlined reconciliation between them after months of diplomatic disputes, especially regarding the French colonization of Algeria (1830-1962).

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