RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Algeria player Mohamed Amoura says he meant no disrespect after he appeared to mock the statuesque Congo supporter paying tribute to slain independence hero Patrice Lumumba at the Africa Cup of Nations.
During his celebrations after Algeria’s dramatic 1-0 win over Congo on Tuesday, Amoura mimicked the fan’s posture with his right hand raised before he slumped down and lay on the field with his head resting on his hand.
The fan, Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, has become a social media star at the Africa Cup for posing as a statue of Lumumba on a pedestal with his right hand raised and staying entirely still for the team’s games. He stayed that way for more than 90 minutes Tuesday, then another 30 as the game went to extra time.
Amoura said he was unaware of the significance of what “Lumumba Vea” as he’s known represents.
“I simply wanted to joke around, in a good-natured way, without any ill intent or desire to provoke anyone,” Amoura wrote in a social media post.
Lumumba is widely hailed as the nationalist activist who helped end Belgium’s colonial rule over Congo in 1960. He became the new independent country’s first prime minister and was seen as one of Africa’s most promising new leaders, but he was killed within a year during a struggle against a Belgian-backed secessionist movement in the mineral-rich Katanga region.
“I respect Congo and its team. Frankly, I wish them all the best and I hope they qualify for the World Cup,” Amoura wrote. “If my attitude was misunderstood, I sincerely regret it, because that was absolutely not my intention.”
By way of apology, Algeria team officials visited Nkuka Mboladinga before he left Morocco and presented him with an Algeria shirt with the name “Lumumba” on the back and another with Amoura’s name.
Congo can clinch one of the last qualification places for the World Cup with a win over New Caledonia or Jamaica in a playoff in Mexico on March 31.
The Fennec Foxes next play Nigeria in the Africa Cup quarterfinals on Saturday.
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