Algeria team meet with DRC 'Lumumba' statue fan at AFCON, Mohamed Amoura apologises for gesture

Members of the Algeria team met with Democratic Republic of Congo superfan Michel Nkuka Mboladinga at their hotel on Wednesday, after backlash over Mohamed Amoura's seemingly mocking gesture after the AFCON match between the sides.

Algeria beat the DRC 1-0 in extra time earlier in the week, after which Amoura stood in front of the DRC fans, posed like Mboladinga (standing like the statue of deceased DRC president Patrice Lumumba), and fell to the ground as though the statue was being knocked over.

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The gesture was seen by many as mocking Lumumba, the DRC's architect of independence from Belgium, and Amoura has since apologized, saying he wasn't aware of the significance of Mboladinga's tribute.

The Wolfsburg player wrote on his socials: "The match against Congo was a big game, very intense, with a lot of tension and emotion on the pitch.

"I want to clarify one thing: at that moment, I was not aware of what the person or the symbol present in the stands represented. I simply wanted to joke around, in a light-hearted spirit, without any bad intention or desire to provoke anyone.

"I respect Congo and their team. Honestly, I wish them all the best and I hope they qualify for the World Cup. If my attitude may have been misunderstood, I sincerely regret it, because that was absolutely not my intention.

"I remain focused on the pitch and on representing my country with pride."

Mboladinga was then invited to meet with the Algerian delegation, and was presented with an Algeria jersey with Lumumba on the back.

The African Union wrote of Lumumba on their Facebook page in 2023: "His ideas were instrumental in the contribution made by the DRC in laying the charter and foundation of the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union), Africa's first post-independence multilateral institution."

In 1962 -- only a year after Lumumba's assassination -- Algeria gained independence from France. Lumumba's ideas on African liberation are widely viewed as having been aligned to those of Algeria's primary nationalist movement at the time, the National Liberation Front (FLN).