While walking through the interview zone at Loftus Versfeld Stadium following the 1-0 loss to the United States, Algeria player Rafik Saifi walked up to a female journalist representing an Algerian newspaper and slapped her across the face.
Algerian Player Takes Out Frustration By Slapping Female Reporter
Asma Halimi, who works for the newspaper Competition, struck the player back in his mouth. He then threw a sports drink at a wall as Halimi was escorted away. It appears the two have a little history.
“I said nothing to him and he reached over and hit me,” Halimi said to Yahoo! Sports. “So I hit him back. I said nothing to him first.”
It is understood that Saifi and Halimi had previously had a difference of opinion over an article she wrote for her newspaper.
“She was standing there and the guy came here and he hit her,” said Francisco Aguilar Chang, a reporter from Guatemala who witnessed the incident. “Then she hit him back and her nail caught his lip.”
Neither Saifi nor Algerian soccer officials responded to requests for a reaction by Yahoo! Sports. Halimi said she would indeed file a complaint with FIFA and the Algerian Football Association.
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