CAIRO: Ahly midfielder Ahmed Hassan retracted his earlier statement that he would never visit Algeria again following the unfortunate incidents that marred his side’s clash against JS Kabylie.
The Egypt skipper said on Monday he would not travel to Algeria ‘under any circumstances’ after Ahly’s bus was stoned before and after the ill-tempered African Champions League clash, which Kabylie won 1-0.
"I might have taken the decision of not playing in Algeria again in a moment of nervousness after the pressure we were subjected to," Hassan said on Ahly’s official website on Thursday.
"(Ahly football director) Hadi Khashaba sat down with me and asked me to reconsider that decision.
"I do not mind reversing it, although I thought that was the best decision after seeing the behavior of Algerian fans."
Ahly said they filed a complaint to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) against Kabylie over a number of incidents.
They complain about the behavior of Algerian fans during the game, accusing them of distracting keeper Sherif Ekrami by throwing bottles and fireworks onto the pitch.
The Egyptian champions, who also reported the bus incidents to CAF, called on the African governing body to sanction referee Kokou Djaoupe.
They believe the Togolese official’s decisions were biased against them, saying that he cut the time added on to only four minutes and send captain Hossam Ghaly off for an unknown reason.
The match witnessed a brawl between Ahly’s players and the stadium’s stewards after Mohamed Shawky had a goal correctly disallowed for offside with four minutes remaining.
Ahly’s complaint did not question Djaoupe’s decision to rule out the goal though.
