Burkina Faso international striker Aristide Bance has accused Egypt and other North African countries of disrespecting and treating black skinned players like slaves.
Bance plays for Egyptian Premier League outfit Al Masry, but is currently out with a long term injury sustained during a Champions League match against UD Songo.
“Football is not slavery but over there, there is slavery in Egypt. It has to stop, I was a victim of that, I am talking about it and I will not fear,” the much traveled forward, who joined the Port Said-based side in mid last year said.
“Foreign players normally have the right to a residence permit. But there (in Egypt) most foreigners do not have the residence card.
They are given a visa for three to four months and when the visa expires, you have to leave the country. And when you do not leave every day there is a penalty.
There are a lot of players out there who have to pay those penalties but have no money. The clubs abandon them on the streets,” the 32-year-old former Ivory Coast’s ASEC Mimosas player added.
On multiple occasions, the Burkinabe cult hero, who penned a two-year-deal with Al Masry, has had to flee Egypt without notice.
To Bance, the recent dismal World Cup ousting for Africa in Russia can be attributed to “injustice” and “suffering” African players, playing within the continent are subjected to.
“Caf president, Ahmad, wanted to know why African teams like Senegal, Tunisia and Egypt did not go far in this World Cup. I would like to tell him to have a look at African football a little bit. I think there is injustice.
Africans who are playing in our continent are treated as slaves. The Caf president must look at this issue because I think enough is enough.
A lot of our black brothers are suffering in countries like Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt. I have a friend who just wrote to me earlier and we play in the same club, he is there in Egypt.
They confiscated his passport and falsified a document to say that he received all his due payments and the Egyptian FA support the club. The case is very serious. We Africans with dark skin, we are not respected.
That’s why Egypt failed in the World Cup because you are bad in your country. As long as you continue to be bad, your national team will be similar,” he concluded.
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