Fans of Algerian first division club MC Alger on Monday invaded the headquarters of the team’s owner, oil company Sonatrach, after the coach blamed poor results on unpaid wages.
Video posted on social media by a group dedicated to films of football hooligans, showed dozens of young men breaking down the gates at the Algiers headquarters of the state-owned company, kicking in the doors and throwing flares into the lobby.
Other videos, filmed inside the building, show damage caused by the attack, the Algeria Press Service news agency reported.
After the seven-time Algerian champions drew at home to Biskra on Saturday to slip to fourth in the table, coach Nabil Naghiz said players had not been paid.
French-language daily Liberte on Monday reported that club management had called the coach’s words “irresponsible” and told him to discuss only football issues “without interfering in administrative matters”.
After the club qualified for the group phase of the African Champions League, Sonatrach CEO Toufik Hakkar promised in January it would receive “the necessary support” to continue to “distinguish itself at national and continental level”.
The club became the first Algerian team to win the African Champions Cup when it won the title in 1976.
In July, the club’s supporters demonstrated at the headquarters of the Algerian Football Federation when CR Belouizdad were declared champions after a coronavirus curtailed season.
When play was halted in March, MS Alger were fifth, six points behind the eventual champions with a game in hand, but were awarded second on average points per game.
Algerian clubs have been hit with a series of stadium bans in recent seasons because of violence and political protests by fans. This season, matches are being played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus pandemic.
