Leaders must behave rationally

George Bernard Shaw had once commented that "when a man wants to murder a tiger he calls it sport; when the tiger wants to murder him he calls it ferocity."

Somewhere after the World Cup qualifying game between Egypt and Algeria the two countries have typified Shaw's observations.

The tension levels between the fans and the governments are being ramped up daily; violence has been the order of the day. But what is worse is seasoned politicians are squeezing every last ounce of political spin from the developments. They are aware that the ‘beautiful game' can let off popular steam that might end up blowing in their direction.

In the final analysis both countries will realise it was just a game. Diplomatically loaded statements issued at the highest levels and the violence and vandalism that followed the result, which went in Algeria's favour, have now put the simple matter of a football game out of perspective.

The onus is on both governments to try and act rationally and impress upon their citizens to do the same. The only thing of note that was at stake was a World Cup berth in 2010. And this is definitely not a matter of life and death.