Football Revolutionaries - The Algerian National Liberation Front Football Team
The National Liberation Front (FLN) football team, created in April 1958, was celebrated as a major act of anti-colonial defiance during Algeria's war of liberation from the French colonisation. On the morning of April 15th 1958, it was revealed that nine Algerian footballers have departed France in protest over its war against Algerian independence. (Evans, 2010) The nine footballers, who were later followed by 22 others, played for the top league teams in France. Rachid Mekhloufi, the star of the French champions AS Saint-Etienne, and Mustapha Zitouni, the lynchpin of the AS Monaco defence, were a vital part of the French national team that was due to play in the World Cup finals two months later. (Escarpit, 2001) Those players sacrificed fame and fortune for the sake of national liberation.
The initiative was spearheaded by Mohamed Boumezrag, an FLN section leader based in France. Even though the FLN leadership wasn't aware of this initiative, they were quick to realise the international significance of this move. (Mubarak, 2004) In 1958, the president of the provisional government of Algeria set up in Morocco, declared that the creation of the FLN team had "advanced the cause of Algerian independence by ten years." (Dubois, 2010)
The team toured North Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. It played 91 games, won 65 victories, and truly internationalised the Algerian struggle for independence. Mohamed Maouche, a player on the FLN team, recalled: " With the passing of time, I can say that none among us have regrets... We were militants, we were revolutionists. I fought for independence... They were beautiful years." (Mubarak, 2004)
Background
Football in African Anti-Colonial Struggle
Since racial and exclusivist ideologies dominated most of the colonised/coloniser relationships in Africa, Football was one of the few areas where the colonised African could enjoy a relatively symmetric experience facing off the European. African teams enjoyed being able to prove themselves better than their European counterparts, therefore by some means debunking the core tenants of the racial ideologies underpinning colonialism. (Akude, 2011) Football had a major role in strengthening the self-confidence of colonised Africans. Keeping in mind the sport itself did arrive in Africa through missionaries and colonialists, however Africans not only adopted the game, but they also identified with it and in many cases reinvented its meaning. (Onwumechili and Akindes, 2014, p5)
In early 1930s, many African nationalists started using football to mobilise people to challenge colonial rule. The banning of public gatherings by several colonial administrations left football stadia as a main option where nationalists could address large crowds without fear of immediate arrest. (Akude, 2011) Football in Africa was becoming an icon of African identity and challenging the essence of colonial rule.
A few examples include the Nigerian Zik Athletic Club which was used to persuade youth to identify with nationalist politics. (Onwumechili and Akindes, 2014, p6) In Zimbabwe, African sports became a symbolic arena for the making of African identity. (Stuart, 1996, p177) In Tunisia, Club Africain was solely founded by students who refused the French colonial guidelines of appointing a French national as club president. (Onwumechili, 2014, p204)
Algerian nationalism in football during the 1920s and 1930s
Football had been mobilised throughout Algerian modern history, even long before the establishment of the FLN team in 1958. During the colonial era, football was used by Algerian nationalists as an arena for political expression and individual liberation. (Amara, 2012, p52) Algerian Muslim football clubs saw a sudden increase in late 1920s and early 1930s as the North African Championship was established in 1927. (Evans, 2010)
The newly created football teams were a point where Algerian youth could find their collective identity that was denied by the French. Many of the teams expressed nationalism through their names, symbols, and strips. Evans (2010) presents Mouloudia Club as an example of a football team, founded in 1921 the Casbah of Algiers, which closely identified with Islam and its strips reflected the red and green of Islam and soon the colours of the Algerian flag. The French attempted to control this by introducing a law in 1928 that every team must include at least three European footballers. (Evans, 2010)
Even before 1958, The FLN saw football as a mean of resisting the French. In a May 1956 cup final between two clubs from the same area, the Algerian team L’Union Sportive Musulmane de Bel-Abbès refused to play against the French Le Sporting Club de Bel-Abbès after the latter was allowed to include their team captain, who was meant to be suspended at the time. The FLN then intervened and ordered Algerian teams to withdraw from all cup and league fixtures, guaranteeing the ruin of the competition. (Evans, 2010)
Hence, Akude (2011) states "In Africa, football is often more than just a game." Football was seen important because it allowed Africans to express their organisational abilities, leadership qualities, resistance to oppression, and national identity. (Akude, 2011) The creation of the FLN team in 1958 represents only an example of explicit resistance to the French colonial rule.
Formation of the Team
The Idea to Create a Revolutionary Team
In 1957, Mohamed Boumezrag, the mastermind behind the FLN football team, had just returned from the Moscow World Youth Festival. He has been influenced by the display of a new flag, white and green, representing a national Algerian sports team during the festival. (Mubarak, 2004) Boumezrag, realizing the significant number of extremely successful Algerian footballers in Algeria and France, argued that the FLN needed a football team. Through this team, the FLN could show the French and the entire world the true war of national independence in Algeria, instead of it being portrayed as a series of bloody and disorganized revolts. (Dubois, 2010, p190)
Boumezrag had played professional football in France between 1936-46, he then embarked on a twelve-year coaching career and later joined the FLN underground in France. Boumezrag's political consciousness was inspired by his grandfather who had spent thirty-three years in a colonial prison for participating in local anti-colonial resistance activities. (Alegi, 2010, p46) Boumezrag's aim was a well-publicized "shock" for the French community to become aware of what was happening in Algeria. In Le Figaro, journalist Thierry Oberle wrote: "Football is the continuation of war by other means." Football players were to become "ambassadors of the birth of a nation." (Dubois, 2010)
Departing France
The first wave of Algerian professional players based in France departed the country through Switzerland and Italy on April 13,1958, in order to make their way to Tunis, home of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Algeria. (Alegi, 2010, p45)
As he secretly met up with the Algerian players, Boumezrag introduced himself saying "My name is Boumezrag, I am part of the French federation of the FLN. We need you. Algeria needs you. Be ready." (Dubois, 2010, p191) The consensus amongst Algerian players was that if Mustapha Zitouni, a star player and cornerstone of the French national team, agreed to join the FLN team, the rest will follow. Zitouni understandably asked if the departure could be delayed until after the World Cup, but Boumezrag had to explain that it was precisely by disappearing before the World Cup that Zitouni could make the most powerful statement in order to assure the attention of the French population. (Dubois, 2010, p191-2) Zitouni recalled: " When I was contacted by Boumezrag, I thought I was being mobilized for my country's revolution. If felt it my duty to be part of the Algerian football team." (Alegi, 2010, p47)
Reactions
The FLN command wasn't aware of this initiative. When the players reached Tunis, they were surprised that none was there to greet them at the airport. However, as the newspapers in France and the world picked up on the story, the FLN realized it had a media coup on their hands. They were quick to issue a press release, declaring that the players had left "at a time when France is fighting a merciless war against their people and their country, the players refused to give French sport their support." The statement also insisted "like all Algerians, the footballers had suffered from the climate of anti-North African and anti-Muslim racism in France." (Dubois, 2010, p193)
The players' departure was a headline story in most French newspapers and radio waves. French nationwide sports daily L’Equipe wrote: "The French team still exists, even if the word 'France' has taken a narrower meaning." (Mubarak, 2004) The New York Times reported: " FRENCH ATHLETES DEFECT TO REBELS; 5 Star Soccer Players Quit Teams and Go to Tunisia in Algerians' Cause". (Brady, 1958) TIME magazine dubbed it "The Disappearing Act." (TIME, 1958)
Ambassadors of the Revolution
The FLN team was about to embark on a revolutionary mission. On its tour, the team carried the colours of the Algerian flag, the "Kassaman" anthem which later became the country's national anthem, and the spirit of the Algerian resistance. The team's first match was against Tunisia, a team who had been finalists in the Pan-Arab Games the year before. FLN team was evidently starting good as it earned an 8-0 victory over Tunisia. (Evans, 2010)
France was irritated. It instantly called on the International Football Association (FIFA) to expel any country that played against the FLN team. (Evans, 2010) FIFA did indeed threaten to sanction any country which played against the FLN, and refused to recognize the FLN team as Algeria was still a colony of France. Tunisia, Morocco, and Libya where the first national teams to meet up with the FLN, regardless of the FIFA threats, in a show of solidarity. (Dubois, 2010, p194)
In early 1959, the team toured Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, the U.S.S.R., Iraq, and Jordan. (Dubois, 2010, p195) In Iraq, the pitch was invaded by fans "congratulations to those who succeeded by the means of sports to tarnish the image of colonial France..." declared the Baghdadis. (Mubarak, 2004)
In late 1959, the team went on another tour to China and North Vietnam where they were received at the highest level in both Beijing and Hanoi. After an easy 5-0 win over the Vietnamese, the Algerians listened to Prime Minister Phan Van Dong's endorsement of the sport's role in the quest for national liberation: "We defeated France and you have defeated us, therefore... you will defeat France." (Alegi, 2010, p49)
Legacy
During the FLN team tours, the Algerian flag would be raised in towns and the anthem sung before thousands of spectators. The FLN had realised football's capacity to symbolize Algerian national identity and have made sure to make the most out of it.
However, Football never stopped being relevant in Algerian politics. Post-independence, the FLN state accorded sport a privileged position as part of its policy of nation-state building and development, promoting the political development and mobilization of the masses while maintaining a social balance and stability for the political system. (Amara, 2012, p35)
Algeria has also often led resistance to established "international" sports organizations, often in the name of socialism, anti-imperialism, as well as pan-African coalitions and pan-Arab solidarity. A strong example is the campaign of protest against FIFA assigning Jean Crafford from apartheid South Africa as vice-president of the African zone. (Amara, 2012, p.40) It was a time of rebellion by Algeria and other non-western countries against western hegemony and control over the game of football.
The popular chant associated with the Algerian national team that is heard during the team's matches is another legacy of the war of independence. "1 2 3 viva l'algerie" in itself is adopted from "Want To Free, Viva l'algerie" chant used during the war of independence, as Algerians were encouraged to chant in English as a method of challenging the French. (Gregory, 2014)
Football has indeed been mobilized throughout the history of modern Algeria for different purposes. During the years of the revolution, it was a symbol of resistance and struggle for independence. The FLN team helped Algeria achieve international recognition that none else could achieve.
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