Sudan crisis: football at a standstill, but for how long?

In Sudan, people no longer speak of a civil war, but of a war against civilians. The official toll is 700 dead, several thousand injured and nearly 300,000 displaced. All because two psychopaths, General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, incidentally the number 1 in the military junta, and General Mohamed Hamdan Dago, known as "Hemetti", number 2 in the junta and head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), are waging a ruthless war for power, with not the slightest concern for the fate of the local population.

Although the fighting is concentrated mainly in Khartoum and its outskirts, other cities in the country are also affected. Thousands of foreign nationals have been evacuated, with no real idea of when they will be able to return to Sudan, assuming they even want to. "The question doesn't arise at the moment. The situation remains very tense, the fighting continues, we obviously don't know how things will develop, and football is out of the question for now", confirms the Frenchman Hamid Brimil, assistant coach of Al-Hilal Omdurman, who has been able to rejoin his family in Doha (Qatar), where he lives.

Foreigners from several clubs have been evacuated

The Congolese (DRC) Florent Ibenge, Al-Hilal's coach, who also holds a French passport, and Aziz El Kahlaoui are in France, and all the foreign players in the squad (the Ivorians Eisa Fofana and Claude Singone, the Congolese Steven Ebvuela, Makadi Lilipo and Fabrice Ngoma, the Malian Lassine Keita, the Nigerian Abdul Jaleel Ajagun, the Malawian Gerald Phiri Jr, the Gambian Lamin Jarjou and the Senegalese Ousmane Diouf, editor's note) are in Egypt or back in their home countries. Sudanese players have also taken refuge in Egypt. "We'll see about getting together for a training camp, because while it seems clear the league won't resume (Al-Hilal are leaders), we are still involved in the Arab Club Champions Cup against Tunisia's Sfax. We're waiting to find out how we will organise ourselves ", Brimil continues.

Sudan v Mauritania at a neutral venue

At Al-Merriekh, Al-Hilal's great rivals, the situation is almost the same. The Brazilian coach Heron Ferreira and his compatriots Alex Silva, Paulo Sergio, Matheuzinho and Sergio Raphael have returned home. The Colombian Bryan Angulo has also gone back to South America. According to our information, the Ghanaian Fatawu Sulemana, the Ugandan Eric Kambale and the South Sudanese Joseph Malish have also been able to return to their home countries. "None of our players was injured in the clashes. Some have left Khartoum and Omdurman ", explains a source close to the club. The serious crisis gripping Sudan will also have repercussions for the match the national team were due to play in Omdurman, at Al-Hilal's stadium, next June against Mauritania in qualifying for the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations. It now seems certain that it will be played at a neutral venue, probably in Egypt…

On the same subject: Sudan crisis: Florent Ibenge recounts the horror

Alexis Billebault