Why That is like Canceling the Superbowl!

If there were any Africans able to ignore the recent protests, they are gone now:

Oil-rich Libya and gas-rich Algeria have indefinitely extended their suspension of all soccer matches with anti-government demonstrations planned for February 12 in Algiers and February 17 in Benghazi and Tripoli. The cancellations are intended to prevent the pitch from becoming a platform for protests.

The Algerian Football Federation further announced on Tuesday the cancellation of its friendly against Tunisia scheduled for February 5. Weeks of mass demonstrations last month toppled Tunisian President Zine Abedine Ben Ali.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s fate hangs in the balance as thousands of demonstrators rejected his concession Tuesday not to run for re-election in September and demanded an immediate end to his 30-year rule.

Soccer fans played a key role in the protests that have brought Mubarak to the brink.