The Confederation of African Football has appointed a referee from Luxembourg to take charge of Thursday's potentially explosive Cup of Nations clash between Algeria and Egypt.

Alain Hamer will officiate the Group C game that has been classed as 'high-risk' given the intense rivalry between the two nations.

Recent meetings between the North African rivals have been contentious affairs, so even the assistant referees have been drawn from outside Africa.

Northern rivals renew hostilities

Frenchman Jean-Philippe Izzo and Tiejun Liu of China will run the line while Mohamed Ali Bujsaim of the United Arab Emirates is the fourth official.

Security has also been beefed-up for the Group C clash.

"We are taking precautions because matches between these two nations are often very tense," said a spokesman for the organising committee.

In 2002, a crucial World Cup qualifier was held up for 15 minutes after Algerian fans threw missiles onto the pitch with Egypt leading in the Algerian coastal town of Annaba.

A 1989 meeting also ended in violence as both teams clashed in a World Cup qualifier in the Egyptian capital Cairo, and criminal charges were brought against Algerian striker Lakhdar Belloumi.

Around 16,000 tickets have already been sold for the match for the 20,000-capacity stadium with organisers estimating 8,000 Algerian fans are in Sousse for the game compared to 1,000 Egyptians.