CAN 2023: who is Sofia Benlemmane, the Algerian supporter expelled from Ivory Coast?

Known for accompanying the Fennecs team everywhere, Sofia Benlemmane was arrested and expelled from Ivory Coast for having declared in a video that Ivorians “live in the prehistoric era”.

The name of Sofia Benlemmane has been making the rounds on social networks for three days. He is accused of having insulted the Ivorians in a video made on the sidelines of CAN 2023.

And for this, the Franco-Algerian influencer Sofia Benlemmane was arrested and deported to Algiers for racist comments. But who is the supporter Sofia Benlemmane, this Algerian influencer with uninhibited racism.

Who is Sofia Benlemmane, the supporter expelled from Ivory Coast?

For the host of the Algerian pirate channel Radio Corona Internationale, Abdallah Benadouda, in a media outing on the social network “best goal of the CAN”. His expulsion is unanimous on social networks.

A decision welcomed by many Internet users exasperated by the crude and hateful speeches of certain Fennecs supporters present in Ivory Coast for the African Football Cup of Nations (CAN).

Comments deemed racist

Known for her excesses of language and her scandals, Sofia Benlemmane is very close to the Algerian national team, which she accompanies everywhere by publishing numerous videos displaying extreme chauvinism. On Sunday, after arriving in Ivory Coast, she filmed herself criticizing the competition’s host country.

“ Algerians need to know how they live here. We thank God for having a country like Algeria. Normally, Algeria should be located between Portugal and Spain. Because here, they live in poverty. It is an understatement to say that they live in the prehistoric era. If I could, I would send the Algerians to see how people live in Ivory Coast. »she declared.

Vulgarity or excessive nationalism?

It appears from a portrait published by Le Monde that the expelled supporter is part of a group of influencers characterized by excessive nationalism and vulgarity which caused disgust in Algeria and sub-Saharan Africa.

The media informs that behavior such as an Algerian supporter declaring from Bouaké, where the Fennecs play, that “ Our country is better than yours, 900,000 times » or another harassing Ivorian women and calling passers-by “slaves » were strongly criticized. These excesses are rarely sanctioned by the Algerian authorities, although they act promptly against dissenting voices.

In Algeria, already affected by the poor result of the Fennecs, held to a draw by Angola in their first match (1-1), the conduct of the “mad cow”, according to an angry journalist, aroused deep disgust sparking outraged reactions in Ivory Coast and other African countries.

The Algerian press revealed that it was the Algerian embassy in Abidjan which itself recommended that the Ivorian authorities arrest and expel him. It remains to be seen whether this new incident will lead to his permanent removal from the players.

Threat of divorce from her husband…

Sofia Benlemmane, who also has French nationality, made history in October 2001 as one of those who invaded the pitch at the Stade de France, where a friendly match between the Blues and the Greens was taking place. A feat of arms which earned him a suspended prison sentence in France.

During the Hirak, the popular movement that led to the overthrow of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Sofia Benlemmane sparked controversy in a video where she threatened to divorce her husband for voting for Abdelmadjid Tebboune in the presidential election from December 2019.

Despite her criticism of the Algerian leader, she was treated as a VIP: she was accommodated in a five-star hotel in Oran during the Mediterranean Games in July 2022 and was even invited to present medals to the athletes.

“Breaking teeth” by Samuel Eto’o

In November of the same year, she was arrested in Gambia for trying to meet referee Bakary Gassama, whom she accused, like many other Algerian supporters, of having been paid to favor the Indomitable Lions during the Algeria match. -Cameroon which deprived the Fennecs of qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar. She also attacked former international Samuel Eto’o, president of the Cameroonian Football Federation, threatening to “knock out his teeth”.

On her return to Algiers, Sofia Benlemmane posted a video on Instagram explaining that she had stayed “fifty hours” at the Ivorian Directorate of Territorial Surveillance, where she was allegedly told that she had to leave Côte d’Ivoire to his own safety.

She claimed to have only “noted” the problems and regretted that her words had been “diverted”. In a passage in Arabic, she indicated that the video was intended for the Algerian people so that they “consider themselves happy with the benefits they benefit from in their country”.