FIFA will hold a hearing on April 15th into the alleged attack on the Algerian national team in Egypt ahead of last November's World Cup qualifier. Several Algerian players and officials claimed that they were hurt and terrified when a host of Egyptian fans hurled their bus with stones at Cairo Airport. FIFA's disciplinary panel will hear the case in Zurich, Switzerland. The World governing body's rules stipulate that host nations are responsible for the safety of the away sides. If a country failed to fulfill this duty, its association would either be fined or obliged to hold games behind closed doors. International matches could also be switched to a neutral ground as a sanction for insufficient security. Right after the controversial attack, Algeria defender Antar Yahia said the Egyptian police did nothing to prevent the football fanatics from assaulting the Desert Foxes. Pictures of wounded Algerians were widely circulated in the media at the time either. According to several reports, Rafik Saifi, Rafik Halliche and Khaled Lemmouchia sustained injuries in the attack. However, the Egyptian FA assured that no one from the visiting contingent was injured, saying Algeria were trying to 'blow things out of proportion'. Algeria reportedly pondered withdrawing from the qualifier, but eventually played the game and lost 2-0. Egypt's victory forced a decider with Algeria in Sudan four days later, but the Pharaohs lost 1-0 to miss out on a place in the World Cup. A large number of Egyptian supporters stated that they were chased and beaten by masses of Algerian hooligans after the playoff match in Khartoum. FIFA should be looking into that incident as well.
