Row in Dubai over football match ends in fight

Dubai: A brief fight broke out earlier on Saturday evening among a small group of people, watching Nigeria-Egypt football match, following a heated argument.

The argument which took place in a café in Hor Al Anz East resulted in a minor injury to one of people involved in the fight.

A police patrol unit and an ambulance were present in the location, which was immediately brought under control.

According to an eye witness, a small group of Egyptians were speaking about the match between Algeria and Egypt. "One of them said that Algerians are not Arabs and expressed undesirable comments," he claimed.

According to another eye witness, a group of Lebanese and Emirates were not pleased by the comments with one of them saying, "This is not appropriate as we are all Arabs and this is only a football match."

The heated argument resulted in one of the Egyptians hitting the person who counter-argued his comments with a sheesha pipe. The person had a minor injury on his head.

Police at the scene refused to comment on the incident saying, "the argument was brought under control."

A bystander told Gulf News, "This is a completely ridiculous argument. I am just glad Algerians were not present at the location. Otherwise it could have been serious."