Rayan Aït-Nouri has been excluded from the remainder of Algeria’s national team training camp following a sideline dispute during their 3–1 victory over Zambia, according to Algerian media reports, after the Manchester City defender remained an unused substitute.
Aït-Nouri visibly displayed his anger near the substitutes’ bench after the coaching staff asked him to warm up multiple times without ultimately sending him onto the pitch, leading to a heated argument with new head coach Brahim Hemdani.
Assistant coach Moussa Saïb and several players, led by Amine Gouiri, intervened to diffuse the situation, while Antar Yahia was seen instructing members of the technical staff to step back to prevent the tension from escalating further.
Conflicting accounts emerged regarding the player’s behavior; while some sources claimed he refused to warm up, other reports and circulating video footage confirmed he completed warm-up routines twice, with his frustration boiling over after being sent back to the bench without entering the match.
Hemdani declined to disclose specific details during his post-match press conference, stating: “I do not want to talk about an individual case,” before emphasizing that the coaching staff would take necessary measures should any conduct breach team discipline standards.
Following the incident, the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) issued an official statement on Saturday confirming the player’s exclusion from the squad, without explicitly detailing the underlying reasons.
Aït-Nouri made his senior international debut for Algeria against Niger in March 2023, having previously represented France at youth international levels. Since switching allegiances, he established himself as a regular fixture at left-back, appearing in the Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup qualifiers while eclipsing 30 international caps.
The dispute occurred during Hemdani’s inaugural training camp following his appointment as Vladimir Petković’s successor, making the management of this disciplinary issue an early test of his managerial authority. Furthermore, Aït-Nouri risks surrendering his starting role to Jaouen Hadjam, who started against Zambia and delivered a strong performance that intensifies competition for the left-back position.
