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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 November 1999 Issue No. 454 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 November 1999 Issue No. 454
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Hockey gains
By Abeer AnwarMahmoud Barakat, head of the Egyptian Hockey Federation (EHF), is an obviously contented man these days. Egypt recently won the Mediterranean hockey tournament, sponsored by Al-Ahram Organisation, hands down. Two international exhibition matches played on the sidelines went a long way toward putting Egypt squarely on the world's hockey map. The field at Smoha in Alexandria where the matches were played has been termed world-class while Egypt has a decent chance of playing in the 2002 World Hockey Cup. Barakat could not ask for more and is indeed proud of the direction hockey is taking in Egypt.
Barakat was particularly pleased after Egypt won the right to hold the Mediterranean championship. The Mediterranean Games are held every four years and Egypt played host to the first Games in Alexandria in 1951. "But hockey was always given short shrift so I decided to form a committee of Mediterranean countries playing the sport under the supervision of the International Hockey Federation [FIH]," Barakat said.
The committee, called the Mediterranean Group, comprised 14 countries, including Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Malta. Barakat became its president in 1996. "We decided to form our own Mediterranean championships every two years under the supervision of the FIH technical committee." In 2001, the championship will be held simultaneously with the Mediterranean Games. The Games proper will be held in Tunisia but either Spain, Malta or Gibraltar will host the hockey tournament because, in Barakat's words, "Tunisia doesn't have the proper facilities for hockey."
Al-Ahram, Barakat said, entered the championship as the main sponsor. "It has also signed a sponsorship contract with the EHF and paid for the flight tickets and three-night accommodation of the Australian women's team and Hungarian men's team." The offer, said Barakat, was one the FIH could not refuse and gladly allowed Egypt to hold the two exhibition matches plus the FIH's diamond jubilee celebrations. The two matches, broadcast in Spain, Hungary and Australia, to name a few, were the first to be held in FIH's history. "Egypt was also honoured to have been the site where the first-ever man and woman player of the year awards were given," Barakat said.
Barakat was especially thrilled to talk about Smoha stadium, constructed in two years with the club's board director, Farag Amer, having donated LE250,000. FIH President Juan Angel Calzado has described it as one of the best pitches in the world. "I would like to take it with me to Spain, the way it is," Calzado joked. The Spaniard visited Egypt two years ago, saying he saw nothing except a field for tending sheep. When he returned three months ago, the field had been transformed into a world-class pitch replete with changing rooms, lighting and applying new techniques in watering the field. The stadium cost LE13 million, paid for by the Egyptian government.
"We will use it in hosting international events," Barakat said. Comparing himself to a bachelor who has found a wife, Barakat said the field helped in Egypt's bid to host the final qualification stages of the 2001 World Cup which will see 16 teams. "This will be the first time Egypt hosts such a large number of countries in an international hockey event," Barakat said. The first eight place winners will qualify for the 2002 World Cup in Malaysia. "This will be a golden opportunity for the Egyptian team since it will have a chance to qualify for the World Cup." Egypt has never before made it to the cup.
Concerning the future of field hockey in Egypt, Barakat said he had contacted the presidents of three Alexandrian clubs, Sporting, Ittihad and Smoha, who all decided to select between 40 to 50 promising junior players every year who will be taught the essentials of the game. "We will also hold not less than five super league tournaments," Barakat added.
On women's hockey, Egypt's female team has been around since 1998 and nine women teams currently play in their own league.
"I am also happy with the number of FIH members -- 197 -- who visited Egypt recently," Barakat said. "This is an honour for Egypt since this has never happened before in any sport. I also thank Al-Ahram Organisation because if it were not for them, we would not have been able to hold such an event."
