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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 21 - 27 September 2000 Issue No. 500 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 21 - 27 September 2000 Issue No. 500
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Elections Development Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Special Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Al-Ahram:
A Diwan of contemporary life (356)
One week into the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, this Diwan instalment takes us back 80 years for a look at Egypt's entry into the biggest sporting extravaganza in modern history. Egypt made its debut at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. Its representation was very modest at the event in which 35 countries took part -- a far cry from the 199 countries present in Sydney. The Egyptian performance then was very poor and hardly felt in Egypt. The country made a better showing, in terms of both representation and results, at the next Olympics in Paris in 1924. Today, Egypt has a 152-member team in Sydney, 93 of them athletes. Dr Yunan Labib Rizk * tells the story from the pages of Al-Ahram.
Egypt at the Olympics
Like many young men of his class in the 19th century, Baron Pierre De Coubertin, born in 1863, had fallen into the thrall of classical antiquity. This member of the French aristocracy was particularly impressed by the ancient Hellenic custom of holding sporting competitions between the various Greek city-states and, later, between the various cities that came to form the empire created by Alexander the Great. The Olympic games, named after Mount Olympus, the seat of the Greek pantheon, were held every four years over a span of almost eight centuries (from 776 BC to 24 AD), until they were banned by the Roman Emperor Theodosius, a Christian convert who saw the Olympic games as a vestige of paganism.
De Coubertin decided to revive the ancient Hellenic custom and, in 1887, he began to promote the idea in France, Britain and the US. His efforts finally paid off during the international sports convocation that was held in the Sorbonne stadium in Paris in 1894 where he succeeded in persuading the heads of the international delegations to bring the Olympics back to life. Perhaps one of the conditions that, perhaps, helped to convince the delegates represented a departure from the original conception. This was that the Olympics would not always be held in Greece, as had been the custom, but rather would rotate among the participating nations.
The French nobleman also founded the first international Olympic committee, which, in turn, succeeded in organising the first modern Olympiad two years later. Athens was the natural choice for this inaugural occasion held in April 1896 and in which 13 nations competed in 10 sporting events. Subsequent Olympics were held in Paris in 1900, St Louis in 1904, London in 1908, Stockholm in 1912 and Antwerp in 1920, the 1916 Olympics having been prevented by World War I. However, the 1924 Olympics in Paris were the first to arouse widespread enthusiasm in Egypt, although it was not the first such international athletic event in which Egypt participated.
This enthusiasm for sports was a far cry from the initial response in Egypt to the initiation of a physical education policy in the Egyptian public school system, a response epitomised by the 1907 Ahmed Shawqi verse addressing then British High Commissioner Lord Cromer: "Did someone ask of you to have the schools, abandon science and take on football?"
Within a few years, however, such attitudes would prove unrepresentative of Egyptian public opinion. Indeed, such was the growing interest in sports that Al-Ahram felt that it had to introduce a permanent sporting section, which it did on 4 November 1922 under the headline "Athletic events."
What had happened in the previous 15 years to bring about this development? One factor was a growing educated elite whose members were the product of modern schooling in Egypt or, more pertinently, who had the opportunity to study in Europe, where they could see first hand the importance attached to systematic physical exercise and sports. This phenomenon had a two-fold effect. It led to the establishment of sporting clubs, which this class could afford to sponsor. It also contributed to creating the practical awareness of the maxim that a sound body builds a sound mind, a philosophy that Al-Ahram sought to promote on numerous occasions.
There can be no doubt that foreign influence and the British colonial presence were instrumental in shaping the direction Egyptian sporting enthusiasm would take. Above all, as Shawqi suggests, the British introduced football, for which the Egyptians developed such an overwhelming passion. Also important was the fact that athletic competitions, particularly between British and Egyptian teams, were strongly coloured with a patriotic fervour, a spirit that became increasingly robust following the 1919 Revolution and, even more so when Egypt emerged as an independent nation following the Declaration of 28 February 1922.
Indeed, Egypt's new independent status helps to explain why the popular attitude towards the Paris Olympics two years later contrasted so markedly with its attitude towards the Olympics four years previously. Although an Egyptian delegation participated in the Antwerp Olympics, Al-Ahram comments, "it was almost impossible for us and for Egyptians in general to obtain news of the Egyptian delegation except through foreign periodicals. Indeed, at the time, we were astounded to discover that many athletes themselves had no conception of the Olympic games. Our team went to Antwerp and returned without us having learned anything that would give us cause for censure or praise. One wonders whether the same phenomenon will occur with the 1924 delegation, which we hope will tower in its performance, particularly now that Egypt is an independent nation."
On the other hand, Al-Ahram felt that four years after Antwerp there were grounds for such hopes. During that interval considerable efforts had been dedicated towards the development of athletics in Egypt. "The establishment of many athletic federations and organisations constitutes the clearest proof of the need to double our efforts to boost Egyptian capacities." Nor does the newspaper omit mention of the gratitude owed to King Fouad, who "every day gives his noble support and encouragement" to the advancement of sports.
Al-Ahram, too, lent itself to this endeavour. Sports occupied an important position in ancient Egyptian civilisation, it asserted in its introduction to a lengthy article intended to promote the forthcoming Olympics. The Olympics were the most important international sporting event and, as such, had important payoffs for the prestige of the participating countries. In the Antwerp Olympics "contestants from 35 countries, chief among which were the US, Britain, France, Australia, Italy and Japan, competed in seven types of sporting events." As for the 1924 Olympics, the organisers were "working day and night" on the Colombe stadium, which was to be "the largest stadium in the world, with a minimum capacity of 60,000 spectators." The Olympic committee had also constructed new railway and tramway lines, as well as two new villages near the stadium to furnish accommodation for the visiting teams. Evidently, there was some concern that the French capital would be so swamped with visitors that there would not be sufficient hotel accommodation. However, "the committee averted this eventuality and announced that thousands of Parisians have offered rooms in their homes to accommodate contestants and other visitors."
The article continues, "As is commonly known, only amateurs compete in the Olympic games, which they do for no remuneration apart from honour this brings to their countries." And, because of the importance of the occasion, Al-Ahram announced, it intended to send a special correspondent to cover the games. The Olympics Committee had also made preparations for the press, laying down 112 new telephone lines as well as a large number of telegraph lines to facilitate the task of foreign correspondents. Thus, countries as far flung as Australia and New Zealand, participating with 40 and 50 contestants respectively, would enjoy up-to-the-minute coverage of the progress of their teams.
Al-Ahram concluded its article with a word of encouragement to Egyptians. The Olympic Committee, it wrote, expected the Egyptian contestants to perform admirably, "especially in football in which 18 nations will be competing."
Prior to the official inauguration of the Olympics eliminations were held in Egypt's and the world's favourite sport -- football. The draw pitted Egypt against three of the strongest competing teams: France, Hungary and Sweden. The extensive coverage Al-Ahram and other Egyptian newspapers accorded to this event is indicative of the Egyptian passion for football even in its relatively early days in the country.
The match with France took place on 19 May in Rouen. The Egyptian team, sporting its red and white uniforms, kicked off with a series of offensives, while "spectators cheered the play of the Egyptian defense." Unfortunately, in the first half, the French scored two goals, which "greatly dismayed the Egyptian spectators." The second half, however, brought a turn about. In its opening minutes El-Sayed Ismail Gouda scored Egypt's first goal, "lifting the morale of the Egyptian team which continually threatened the French goal." Although the French goalkeeper managed to "save his team every time," the Egyptian player Ali Riad eventually succeeded in scoring a second goal, which the spectators met with "long applause." Al-Ahram's correspondent commented that it had been a fine match that "augurs well for Egypt's success in the Olympics."
In its following day's edition, Al-Ahram featured a lengthy analysis of the game, contending that if the performance of the Egyptian team had been "disjointed" in the first half, it made up for its mistakes in the second half. Following praise for the Egyptian players that had scored the two goals, the newspaper lauded the "exemplary sporting spirit and kindness which the crowds in Rouen have displayed towards the Egyptian delegation."
The match with Hungary took place in Colombe stadium in Paris. On hand to cheer the Egyptian flag as it was paraded onto the field were Mahmoud Fakhri Pasha, Egypt's ambassador to France, the other members of the diplomatic mission, Princess Fawqiya (King Fouad's daughter) accompanied by an entourage of Egyptian women, and "every Egyptian present in France."
Ahmed Shawqi
King Fouad
Five minutes into the first half, Al-Ahram's correspondent relates, "the Egyptian team bore down on the Hungarian goal and Ibrahim Yakan, with a powerful shot, was the first to score." The Hungarians countered with an angry offensive, in which, the correspondent attests, they were offside. The referee, however, was blind to this and instead ruled a penalty kick against the Egyptians. Fortunately, "God saved us, for the ball struck the goalpost and sailed out of the field."
The Egyptians' lead whetted their appetite for the second half, in the opening minutes of which they scored two successive goals, the first by Higazi and the second by El-Sayed Ismail. Egypt's clean 3-0 victory prompted Al-Ahram's correspondent to exult, "The 11 Egyptian team members' rivalry to demonstrate the greatest skill and zeal brought victory to the flag of independent Egypt for the first time in the Olympic games."
The Egyptian victory evidently surprised the French, evoking the comment in Le Figaro, "The spectators in the Paris stadium were astounded at the Egyptian defeat of the highly reputed Hungarian team, and the stadium resounded with cheers in support of the Egyptians."
But the Egyptian jubilation was not to last. In the match against Sweden, which took place in Pershing stadium in Paris on 1 June, the Swedish team scored three goals in the first half, to which they added two more in the second. This defeat knocked the Egyptians out of the football competitions, because the Olympics elimination rules stipulate that a losing team cannot enter the following round.
Naturally, Al-Ahram expressed the dismay of the Egyptian people. In its analysis of the game it mentioned that three of the Egyptian team's best players -- Marei, Abaza and Mukhtar -- had been taken ill and that others had not played up to par. For example, he writes that on one occasion, Riad Shawqi had recklessly kicked the ball to the Swedish offence, enabling them to score their third goal.
As the preliminaries were under way in France, rivalries of a less sportsmanlike nature were in progress in Egypt over the selection of the members of the delegation that was to travel to Paris. The first contest involved the selection of the delegation secretary. There were two candidates: Ali Effendi Mukhlis, "a prominent patron of the sports from Alexandria," and Ismail Effendi Yussri, "Treasurer of the Egyptian Football Federation." Al-Ahram favoured the former, due to "his dedication and good judgement," and "his experience in organising other sporting events apart from football." Yussri's qualifications, on the other hand, "do not extend beyond the experience he has acquired through the Football Federation." The newspaper adds scathingly, "To enlighten opinion further, we should mention that when he served as secretary of Sultanate's Cup committee, its finances had to be audited three years running." The Egyptian Olympic Committee did not heed Al-Ahram's advice and opted for Yussri, to which Al-Ahram had the grace to respond, "We wish him success in his endeavours."
Al-Ahram would not acquiesce so peaceably to the committee's other choices. It opposed in particular the committee's selection of Ahmed Rahmi to represent Egyptian wrestlers and Hamed Sami to represent Egyptian weightlifters. Joheina, Al-Ahram's sports commentator, objected that many other contenders were more qualified, "particularly as they are in weight categories in which they could excel their counterparts from other countries." He continues, "Yes, we must respect the opinion of the Egyptian Olympic Committee, the rights and duties of Egyptian athletes must also be safeguarded. It is up to the press to defend these athletes and their rights."
Joheina's opinion prevailed with regard to the choice of the Egyptian swimming representative. Abu Doma was Egypt's champion in the 1,500-metre race, while Ishaq Helmi Bek was Egypt's long-distance champion. Joheina cast his vote for Abu Doma since the swimming meets in the Olympics never exceed 1,500 metres.
Another interesting development was that several Egyptian athletes, angered at having been passed up by the Egyptian Olympic Committee, demanded showdowns to prove themselves against the selected delegates. Cairo boxing champion Hussein Sabri, whom Al-Ahram considered to be much better than the committee's favoured candidate, the Alexandrian George Haddad, demanded a public match to determine which of the two merited going to Paris. Also, a number of Egyptian wrestlers appealed to the newspapers to publish their grievance at the Olympic committee's selection process and to demand elimination matches that would determine the worthiest candidates. One wrestler, Anis Sirkis, proclaimed that he wanted to fight Ibrahim Mustafa, the committee's choice. More extraordinary yet was the advertisement an Egyptian boxer placed in the newspaper that read: "Mohamed Ali Sadeq, member of the National Club and famous boxer, nominates himself to represent Egypt in the Olympics and towards this end he is prepared to challenge any wrestler in the light heavyweight range."
In order to appease the rival athletes and the public the Egyptian Olympic Committee announced on 15 May 1924 that other superior athletes were welcome to accompany the Egyptian delegation but that its budget could not cover the costs of more than the stipulated number of the team. "However, the Committee will gladly arrange for the travel of those athletes nominated by various sporting organizations and clubs on the condition that those agencies pay the travel expenses which are estimated at between LE100 and LE120." With this announcement the storm subsided and the Egyptian delegation prepared to set off to Paris.
The procession of athletes was arranged alphabetically, placing the Egyptian team behind that of Denmark. Al-Ahram reports, "Our athletes, in uniforms representing the colours of the Egyptian flag, in tarbooshes and bearing the standard of the white crescent, stirred the greatest admiration. When they reached the presidential podium, the President of France rose to take off his hat to the Egyptian standard... The Egyptian athletes returned the salute by raising their hands to their foreheads, a gesture that precipitated thunderous applause in the stands."
But this exhilarating moment had not come without a price. Most of the problems the delegation had encountered were caused by red tape. As many of the athletes were government employees, they required a leave of absence from their superiors. Anticipating problems of this nature Al-Ahram appealed to their superiors, expressing its hopes that they would respond willingly "towards the realisation of the hopes Egypt has placed in those of its sons who are to travel abroad to defend Egypt's name in sports." Other members of the Egyptian team were students, and as the Olympics coincided with end of term exams this presented another difficulty. Al-Ahram hoped that the Ministry of Education would make an allowance for them, "so as not to forfeit the benefit they will bring to Egypt abroad nor their right to sit their examinations and obtain degrees."
Officials at the Ministry of Education were not so compliant. Evidently, Mahmoud Mukhtar was unable to postpone his exams and was forced to cede his place on the Egyptian athletic team to a less skilful contestant.
According to Al-Ahram's sports commentator, some of the athletes chosen by the Egyptian Olympic Committee were not up to Olympic standards. For example, Joheina asked, "Who is this Sayed Mohamed who is expected to vie with the champions of the world in the 1,500 and 5,000 metres running championships?" He then demanded that the committee make public its selection criteria.
Back in Paris, the performances of some Egyptian athletes corroborated Joheina's predictions and others did not. Sayed Mohamed, who had been the butt of the commentator's wit, came in fourth in the 1,500 metres meet, while, again contrary to Joheina's expectations, Michel Haddad was defeated in his boxing match against the Italian contestant.
On the other hand, Ibrahim Mustafa, the famous Egyptian wrestler "scored another record, defeating his French opponent in the light heavyweight category in a minute and 47 seconds." He continues, "The Egyptian champion was so agile that spectators did not hesitate to nominate him for the finals."
However, the results in general failed to fulfil the great hopes Egyptians had pinned on their athletes. The sense of disappointment generated a renewed round of criticism against the Egyptian Olympic Committee, in addition to a demand that it present a detailed account of its expenses, which were not inconsiderable.
Nonetheless, there were voices raised in the defense of the Egyptian team. Al-Ahram commented, "However few and low-ranking the honours the Egyptian athletes achieved, they have proven to the sporting world in general and Egypt in particular that the Egyptian physique, if it is nurtured carefully, can attain the power, agility and speed that the physiques of the peoples of advanced nations can attain."
Another Al-Ahram sports commentator compared the results of the 1920 Olympics with those of the 1924 Olympics and concluded, "There is a tangible improvement which should encourage us to continue our support of Egyptian athletes and to persist assiduously in their training in order to equip them for the 1928 Olympics."
Striking an equally rational note amidst the impassioned climate was an article that proclaimed "The Age of barbarity has ended." The article declared that the Paris Olympics had alerted sporting federations to the need to amend their regulations "in a manner that will permit their athletes to make a stronger presence in the competitions four years from now in Amsterdam." And, indeed, from that moment on, sports enthusiasts in Egypt set their sights on that goal.
* The author is a professor of history and head of Al-Ahram History Studies Centre.
