RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Algeria player Mohamed Amoura says he meant no disrespect after he appeared to mock the statuesque Congo supporter paying tribute to slain independence hero Patrice Lumumba at the Africa Cup of Nations.
During his celebrations after Algeria’s dramatic 1-0 win over Congo on Tuesday, Amoura mimicked the fan’s posture with his right hand raised before he slumped down and lay on the field with his head resting on his hand.
The fan, Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, has become a social media star at the Africa Cup for posing as a statue of Lumumba on a pedestal with his right hand raised and staying entirely still for the team’s games. He stayed that way for more than 90 minutes Tuesday, then another 30 as the game went to extra time.
Amoura said he was unaware of the significance of what “Lumumba Vea” as he’s known represents.
“I simply wanted to joke around, in a good-natured way, without any ill intent or desire to provoke anyone,” Amoura wrote in a social media post.
Lumumba is widely hailed as the nationalist activist who helped end Belgium’s colonial rule over Congo in 1960. He became the new independent country’s first prime minister and was seen as one of Africa’s most promising new leaders, but he was killed within a year during a struggle against a Belgian-backed secessionist movement in the mineral-rich Katanga region.
“I respect Congo and its team. Frankly, I wish them all the best and I hope they qualify for the World Cup,” Amoura wrote. “If my attitude was misunderstood, I sincerely regret it, because that was absolutely not my intention.”
By way of apology, Algeria team officials visited Nkuka Mboladinga before he left Morocco and presented him with an Algeria shirt with the name “Lumumba” on the back and another with Amoura’s name.
Congo can clinch one of the last qualification places for the World Cup with a win over New Caledonia or Jamaica in a playoff in Mexico on March 31.
The Fennec Foxes next play Nigeria in the Africa Cup quarterfinals on Saturday.
AP at the Africa Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-cup-of-nations
Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, a DR Congo fan impersonating late Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba poses before the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Algeria and DR Congo in Rabat, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, a DR Congo fan impersonating late Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba poses before the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 soccer match between Algeria and DR Congo in Rabat, Morocco, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
MARTIGNY, Switzerland (AP) — Switzerland will hold a memorial service Friday, part of a national day of mourning to honor the 40 people who were killed in an Alpine bar fire earlier this month during a New Year's celebration.
An additional 116 people were injured, many of them seriously, when the fire broke out less than two hours after midnight at the Le Constellation bar on Jan. 1.
Investigators have said they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fire in the resort town of Crans-Montana when they came too close to the ceiling. Authorities are looking into whether soundproofing material on the ceiling conformed with regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar. Fire safety inspections hadn’t been carried out since 2019.
The severity of burns made it difficult to identify some victims, requiring families to supply authorities with DNA samples. Police have said many of the victims were in their teens to mid-20s.
Swiss authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the bar managers. The two are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm and involuntarily causing a fire, according to the Valais region’s chief prosecutor.
As part of the national day of mourning, church bells across Switzerland will ring for five minutes, beginning at 2 p.m. local time Friday, and a minute of silence will be held.
The Rome prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the Crans-Montana fire, alleging manslaughter and arson, Italian media reported Thursday. An autopsy has been ordered for five of the six Italian victims and has been delegated to the prosecutors' offices in Milan, Bologna, and Genoa, where the bodies of the victims have been returned.
“What happened is not a disaster: It’s the result of too many people who didn’t do their job or who thought they were making easy money,” Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said at a press conference on Friday. “Those responsible must be identified and prosecuted.”
Meloni said the State Attorney General’s Office has contacted the Swiss Attorney General to follow the investigation and confirmed that the Rome Prosecutor’s Office has started a separate probe.
“The families have my word that they will not be left alone while they seek justice,” she added.
The Paris prosecutor’s office Monday announced that it was opening a probe to assist the Swiss investigation and make it easier for families of French victims to communicate with Swiss investigators. Nine French citizens were killed, the youngest of them aged 14, and 23 others were injured.
The owners of the "Le Constellation" bar in Crans-Montana, where the deadly fire happened on New Year's Day, Jacques und Jessica Moretti from France, center, arrive with their lawyers Patrick Michod, Yael Hayat and Nicola Meier, to be auditioned by the Valais public prosecutor's office in Sion, Switzerland, Friday, January 9, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)
Plaques bearing flags representing Switzerland, Romania, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, France, and Turkey are placed along with flowers and candles to honor the victims of the fire at the "Le Constellation" bar and lounge, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP)
Mourners gather around flowers and candles to commemorate the victims of the "Le Constellation" bar and lounge's fire, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)
FILE - A child watches as an adult places a candle outside the sealed off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner, File)
