Mohamed Vall, Al Jazeera

The aftermath of the World Cup qualifying match between Algeria and Egypt has amounted to a diplomatic storm over the North African region spreading even to Sudan. Egypt has recalled its ambassador to Algeria for consultation in protest over alleged attacks by Algerian fans on Egyptian fans in Khartoum.

Cairo says 21 Egyptians were wounded in the attacks on buses transporting them to Khartoum airport after the match and has expressed deep dissatisfaction with what they described as Sudan's failure to protect their citizens.

Khartoum is furious in response and believes Egyptian authorities have exaggerated a minor incident in which only two people were slightly wounded in order to alleviate the bitterness of their defeat in the game. Sudanese foreign minister summoned the Egyptian ambassador to Khartoum and told him of his government indignation at the Egyptian threat to send troops to protect Egyptians on the Sudanese soil.

The tension has even spread to the business sphere. Algerian tax authorities have decided to reassess taxes on Egyptian telecommunications company Orascom Algeria, demanding $ 596.6 million. 'Suddenly' and right at the peak of the sports related argument an Algerian audit of Orascom Telecom Algeria for 2005 through 2007 found that the subsidiary earned a total of 5.25 billion dollars in contrast with the 4.42 billion dollars it says it earned.

But all of the above has no importance when compared to the level of animosity the sports event has caused among the two people. Just look at the streets of Algiers and Cairo and listen to or watch what goes on on national TV screens to realize how ugly the situation has turned.

I was thinking that if Arabs are divided as leaders they're at least united as people. I hope I'm still right in this assumption though I'm beginning to have doubts. I've never thought that we could see those political circuses between Arab leaders at their annual summits being reproduced on a macro scale among an Arab population that has for thousands of years shared the same fate and the same dreams.

But I do understand that the regimes are to blame in this sports turned-politics game. The Algerian and Egyptian leaderships have played politics through their football teams. They have realized very well that football is one of the shortest cuts to their peoples' hearts and minds. So with generous public funds they facilitated the transportation and accommodation of tens of thousands of their nationals to Sudan in order to raise the morale of their players and their chances of victory.

But a main objective if not the ultimate one is the image of the national leaderships which see in this a chance to prove that they care for their people's aspirations. Sports are being used in this situation to help boost the standing of leaderships accused by big chunks of their populations of lacking in legitimacy. In the process their people who are made to think their aspirations are being taken care of are in fact falling victim to political manipulation.


* Mohamed Vall, based out of Doha, reports for Al Jazeera from across the Middle East and North Africa.