Manama: An Algerian girl is suing local authorities in Algiers after she was told that the processing of the papers of her marriage to her Egyptian fiancé would be delayed until after November 14, the date of a crucial World Cup match between the two countries.

"I was shocked to hear from the marriage contracts employee in Algiers municipality that I had to come back after November 14 because my papers cannot be processed before that date," Feryal Zayani said.

"I could not believe that the papers could be held because of the football match to be played Saturday. I had promised Mahmoud that I would quickly prepare the marriage papers so that he could come to Algeria to finalise with me and my family the preparations for the wedding. However, I was shocked by the response of the municipality. I eventually contacted the governorate services to enquire whether there was a legal text that barred Algerians from marrying Egyptians because of the match," Feryal who works with a foreign company said.

No joking

A denial from the governorate officials of the existence of administrative or political decisions against marriages with foreigners or Arabs prompted Feryal, 25, to sue the municipality for stalling her marriage, the London-based Al Sharq Al Awsat daily has reported.

"I was told that the municipality employee could have been a die-hard fan and that he might have been joking with me, but I am taking the case to court," said Feryal .

The case is the second time in one week that marital bliss between an Algerian and an Egyptian faced termination threats because of the crucial match.

Last Sunday, an Egyptian wife left her Algerian husband of three years and went into hiding after an altercation over a crucial football match between their native countries to be played today.

The Algerian man told the Egyptian embassy in Algiers that he had had a heated argument with his wife about the 2010 World Cup decider between Algeria and Egypt, in which each spouse claimed that their native country would win and qualify for the finals in South Africa.

However, according to the husband, the wife became upset and afterwards left the family home, taking their only son with her and not informing anyone about her whereabouts.

Algerians and Egyptians have been engaged in a vitriolic standoff, ominously fuelled by partisan print and broadcast media and websites that have degraded the do-or-die clash between the Desert Foxes (Algeria) and the Pharaohs (Egypt) for a place among the Titans of football into the pettiest forms of chauvinism. Observers have been wondering whether the deep animosity in fact went beyond a football match into political issues.

Efforts by peace activists from both countries have failed to appease the tension amid concerns voiced by the international football federation, Fifa, about physical clashes and skirmishes on match day.