Ahead of their semi-final match at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, Democratic Republic of Congo players have called for more attention on their home country amid the ongoing violence in the eastern part of the country.
DR Congo will face host country Ivory Coast in Abidjan on Wednesday for a place in the final of Africa’s foremost football competition but the country has been in mourning because of the incessant killings in the eastern part of the country.
The Eastern Congo has been a region subjected to armed violence and mass killings for over a decade with over a hundred groups fighting for power, land, and mineral resources.
The Congolese Association of Football Federation (FECOFA) announced on Tuesday that the national team players will wear black armbands on their right arms on Wednesday to show their support for their compatriots and mourn the souls that have been lost in the fight.
The statement released by FECOFA on Tuesday read: “As a mark of mourning and in memory of our victims and as a show of national solidarity for our brothers and sisters, our National Team will wear a thin black armband on the right arm.”
Last Friday, members of the armed group in the North Kivu province region fired a United Nations helicopter and injured two South African soldiers in the attack.
Captain Chancel Mbemba led the call for peace in the country while striker Cedric Bakambu called on the world to use the Leopards’ feat at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations to pay attention to the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“Everyone sees the massacres in Eastern Congo. But everyone is silent. Use the same energy that you put into talking about the AFCON to highlight what is happening with us, there are no small gestures,” Bakambu tweeted.
???????? Tout le monde voit les massacres à l’Est du Congo. Mais tout le monde se tait.
Mettez la même énergie que vous mettez pour parler de la CAN pour mettre en avant ce qu’il se passe chez nous, il n’y a pas de petits gestes. pic.twitter.com/PUZCavuckC
— Cédric Bakambu (@Bakambu17) February 5, 2024
“A very big thought for all the victims of the atrocities in Goma and their families. I pray with all my heart that my country regains its peace,” Mbemba tweeted.
Une très grosse pensée pour toutes les victimes des atrocités de Goma et à leurs familles. Je prie de tout mon cœur que mon pays retrouve sa paix. ????????❤️ pic.twitter.com/zLpAjaTjXE
— Chancel Mbemba (@mbemba22) February 5, 2024
“I am Goma. I am Congolese. We want peace,” Kalulu tweeted.
Je suis Goma ????
Je suis congolais ????????????????
Nous voulons la paix ???????? pic.twitter.com/aKCJ2GEZTy— Gedeon Kalulu (@gedeon_K2) February 5, 2024
DR Congo are two-time AFCON champions having won the titles in 1968 and 1974, and they last made it to the semi-final in 2015 where they finished third in Equatorial Guinea.
