Al Jazeera English presenter Sana Hamouche: “my heart beats for Desert Warriorsâ€
Sana Hamouche is the only Algerian and Arab presenter in Al Jazeera English's sports team. She was brought up in the UK but her heart beats for her country. She talked to Echorouk about Algeria’s football team and her work in the satellite TV channel.
- You are the only Algerian and Arab presenter at Al Jazeera English. How did you start working in this field?
- My family left Algeria to Britain when I was five. I got my baccalaureate degree in London in 1998 and I studied at the university for three years to become a chemist. Yet, I preferred to work as a journalist. I obtained a master degree from the UniversityNottingham. of
- Why did you choose to be journalist?
- I studied pharmacy because my father wanted me to do that but I liked journalism. My father was a journalist. So, I loved this job and I can not imagine myself in any other occupation. When I obtained the master degree, I joined the BBC in Britain as a trainee for three months. Then, I joined many other media means as a trainee as well.
- How did you join Al Jazeera English?
- Emirate TV channel Dubai Sports asked me to join it. I worked there for four years. Meanwhile, I worked at CNBC and Arabiya Sports. I also made reports and coverage in politics, business and culture. In 2006, I got an offer from Al Jazeera and I did not hesitate to join it.
- How do you deal with the Algerian journalists at Al Jazeera?
- Thanks to Allah, they are all kind people. We are friendly to each other especially Khadidja Ben Guena and Hafid Derradji who helped me a lot.
- Why did you choose to work in sports? It is known that women avoid this field.
- I loved sports since my childhood. I used to exercise regularly. As I live in Britain, I was fan of the English football league. It was no problem for me to work in sports field as I know it and I know all its rules.
- So, you went to Angola to cover the African Cup?
- No, I did not because Al Jazeera’s correspondent in South Africa was in charge of doing that. I covered the training of Algeria’s team in Lou Castelet. I did an interview with Saadane, Antar, Mansouri and Halliche. They are respectful and professional players.
- Will you go to South Africa?
- Yes, I will. Algeria will be the only Arab team there. Its players speak Arabic and French. Some of them speak English. It will be a good atmosphere to do a great job with Saadane’s team.
- You were present in Cairo on November 14’s match. How did you experience the fans’ attack on the Algerian players?
- It was a sad day. I was far from the Algerian team’s hotel because journalists were not allowed to come near. I heard about the attack from my colleague Khadidja Ben Guena when it happened. I called a number of the players to confirm the information but no one replied me. I realised then that something bad happened. I watched the video which was filmed by Rafik Saifi. I got angry when I saw blood. I tried to reach the hotel but I was told the road had been blocked. I could not sleep that night.
- How did things happen on the day of the match?
- I went to the stadium as a fan. I did not use my professional card in order to see how things were organised there. Many of my personal items were seized. Some women were undressed and they tried to do the same thing to me. I did not allow them to do that and I took back my items. Yet, another tragedy took place in the stadium.
- Were you attacked?
- They tried to attack us but we pushed them back. A policeman wanted to beat Algerian fans. I lodged a complaint against him but the tragedy continued with the fans’ bus. We found two buses with broken windows and the Algerian fans were standing up on the street. The police stopped us and prevented us from going to the hotel as some extremist fans were planning to attack us. The day after, we heard that many fans were beaten.
- Did you leave Cairo for Sudan?
- I did not go to Sudan. I came back to Qatar. In the airport, a security agent saw my passport and asked me why I did not congratulate him for the victory. I told him I do not follow football and I do not know anything about it. He was rejoicing over Algeria’s defeat. His words made my crying in the aircraft. I wanted to leave Cairo at any price. Because of that, I did not respond him.
- But the victory in Sudan made you forgetting all this injustice, right?
- There were nice moments. I celebrated Algeria’s victory in Doha until 3 am though I had to start working at 7 am the day after.
- How did Al Jazeera English deal with the fans’ attacks and the match in Sudan?
- Al Jazeera English does not report anything without sources. The fans’ attacks were proven with videos and reports from world news agencies. What was said about attacks in Sudan came from one source only. We reported the summoning of the Egyptian ambassador to Algiers citing a news agency. We also reported the burning of the Algeria’s flag next to its embassy in Cairo.
- How did you react after Algeria had lost the African match against Egypt?
- Believe me, I stayed out of my house for 20 minutes after Halliche had shown a red card. I felt that we were going to loose immediately after the referee had shown the first yellow card to Halliche. Let me say something: if I had the choice between winning the African Cup for 10 times or qualifying to the World Cup, I would have opted for the World Cup. We can not compare a competition watched by 100 or 200 million people to a world event watched by more than 3 billion fans.
- Are you planning to present special programmes before the World Cup?
- Yes, sure. I prepared a portrait about Algeria’s coach Rabeh Saadane.
- You are a fan of the English team. Which team will you support in the World Cup?
- I have been an extraordinary fan of the English team since I was a child. I wish AlgeriaUK were not drawn in the same group. Algeria will always be in my heart. I will support my country on the day of the match. and the
- Do you think Algeria will qualify to the second round?
- I think we can beat Slovenia. As for the United States, we should study they way of playing. They are like the Germans. They do not get tired easily. In the match against the UK, everything could be possible.