Mouloudia fans set anti-Covid goal for centenary

ALGIERS: Supporters of Algeria’s oldest professional football club, Mouloudia Club d’Alger (MCA), are to celebrate its 100th anniversary by raising funds to buy ventilators for Covid-19 patients.

”This centenary will one of ‘the oxygen Mouloudia’ thanks to a large solidarity action,” the vice-president of MCA’s national supporters committee, Hamid Atmani, said.Instead of the annual fireworks display and other festivities, he said, supporters have opted to raise funds to help combat a third wave of coronavirus infections sweeping the North African country.

”It will be the most beautiful and wonderful centenary celebrated by any team in the world. These are the values and principles of our team 100 years ago from its founding,” reads a post on the Facebook page of “100%Mouloudia” which has 200,000 followers. “ The people’s club is calling the people,” it reads, using MCA’s nickname.

The club in Bab El Oued, a working class district of the capital Algiers, was established on August 7, 1921 that coincided with “Mouloud”, the Prophet’s birthday, from which it took its name.Algeria has so far officially recorded more than 170,000 coronavirus infections, and more than 4,200 Covid-related deaths.