MC Alger head coach Rulani Mokwena has discussed the strict transfer ruling in place in the Algerian Ligue 1 and explained why the potential transfer of Thembinkosi Lorch was not possible in the off-season.
Mokwena is in his first season with the reigning champions and currently lead the table with 22 points in eight games, with three games in hand over second-placed MC Oran, who have amassed 20 points thus far.
The club made six signings ahead of the new season; Algeria national team goalkeeper Alexis Guendouz from Persepolis FC in Iran, midfielder Sid Ahmed Aissaoui from CSKA Moscow and Guinea international talent Alhassane Bangoura from FC Milo.
Those three signings came at a combined fee of around R16-million while Algeria international winger Zinedine Ferhat was lured back to his homeland after nine years in Europe – while Aimen Bouguerra and Ishak Talal Boussouf joined as free agents from CS Constantine and CR Belouizdad respectively.
Four more players were promoted from the U21 side by Mokwena who has now entered a space where foreigners can only be signed if they have international caps, senior or youth level for their country, and under the age of 30.
“I don’t want to sound critical because I don’t have the basis of… there’s always context you know – where does the rule come from? There’s always context and I would assume that the people responsible for the football in Algeria, they make the rules for the benefit of the football in the country,” Mokwena said in an online interview with SAFJA.
“So to be overly critical of it, would be immature from the sense that I don’t have enough knowledge or time in Algerian football to be able to comment on it – it is a bit of a surprise, there were many players we could have brought in, not just the [transfer rule] but also the restriction to having only four foreign players, which I like a bit more than the age restriction.
“And also that foreign players must have a certain number of caps, I like that a little bit more, but maybe when you look at the average age of the league, maybe it’s to in the short or medium term, to try and address that, maybe not enough youngsters are given chances.
“Maybe the country wants to try to advocate for more usage of Algerian youngsters and there’s nothing wrong with that, in trying to keep the Algerian game alive, maybe they thought this is one of the measures that they feel would have a greater influence.
“I think it’s an extremely challenging rule that prohibits quite a lot to the recruitment, but it’s one that I would think there’s a lot of research and thought processes behind making it and without proper context it’s very difficult to give my opinion whether it’s correct or not.”
While Lorch has international caps for the senior South Africa international team, the player he worked with at Orlando Pirates and signed for Mamelodi Sundowns and Wydad Athletic Club fell out of the scope of eligibility for the Algerian top-flight due to being 32-years-old.
“I can only express the challenges I found in the previous window in trying to improve the squad and recruit the right type of player,” he continued to explain.
“Because sometimes, a player like Lorch for an example, would have been a player that possibly would have joined us, but was unfortunate of the legalities and laws that prohibited us from trying to explore that possibility.”
Lorch has since gone to emerge as a star performer at Wydad five goals in his first nine games this season.