Riyad Mahrez and Algeria caught up in 'spying' storm as police question man flying a drone ahead of AFCON

Algeria has been caught up in a spying drama on the eve of the Africa Cup of Nations after a drone was flown over their training session, it has been claimed.

The Fennec Foxes, whose squad contains the likes of Riyad Mahrez, Ismael Bennacer and Rayan Ait-Nouri, were preparing for Monday’s group opener against Angola.

Algeria were holding a behind-closed-doors training session at their base in Bouaké earlier this week when a drone was noticed flying over the pitch.

This is said to have raised suspicions someone was spying on Djamel Belmadi and his players.

Algerian publication La Vague Verte shared a video on social media that showed police questioning the man piloting the drone.

However, a report by DZfoot suggested the drone operator was an Ivorian who had been employed by Algerian media, rather than a spy from an opposing team.

Nonetheless, it was a distraction for Belmadi who, as per So Foot, demanded that his training sessions ahead of the tournament be filmed as little as possible.

Algeria didn’t get past the group stage at the last AFCON, despite having won the tournament in 2019.

They play all three of their group games in Bouaké, taking on Angola on Monday before an encounter against Burkina Faso on January 20 and Mauritania on January 23.

The North African outfit are among the favourites to win the tournament, alongside Morocco, reigning champions Senegal and hosts Ivory Coast.

Indeed, Algeria have not lost a single match in 2023, winning nine and drawing three of their 12 games across AFCON and World Cup qualification plus friendlies.

The tournament kicks off on Saturday night when Ivory Coast take on Guinea-Bissau.