It was claimed that some Egyptian fans, who gathered at Cairo airport, hurled stones at the visiting team's bus. Rafik Saifi, Rafik Halliche and Khaled Lemmouchia were reportedly injured.

Bochum player Yahia pointed the finger at the Egyptian police, saying they did absolutely nothing to prevent the alleged hooligans from attacking the Algerian delegation.

"They let them do it. You can't launch five kilo rocks from 50 meters. They let them do it and watched. It's shameful. In our home game we welcomed them with flowers," he said.

"They struck our bus with large bricks. Players have open head wounds with blood. We were lying down in the bus.

"All the windows were broken. It makes you fear for your life. As long as our lives are not assured we’re afraid to play this match."

On the other hand, EFA board member Mahmoud Taher vehemently denied that the Desert Foxes were attacked, saying the players themselves came up with a fake story to 'blow things out of proportion'.