8 - 14 February 2001
Issue No.520
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 8 - 14 February 2001 Issue No.520 |
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Good enough
Egypt's dream run in the World Handball Championship came to an abrupt end at the hands of eventual champions France. But the defeat should not tarnish what was otherwise a history-making performance by the Egyptians which augurs well for the future of the national team.
The defeat of Russia, gold medalist at the Sydney Games and more than once a world champion, had the handball world on its head. For the first time an Arab team had beaten a squad of such stature in an official tournament. For the first time it had made it to a semi-final of a world championship. And for the first time it had jumped to fourth in the world, breaking the European stranglehold in stunning fashion.
The big leap made in the championship is not as surprising as some believe. While other sports federations have been in a deep freeze for years, the kind Rip Van Winkle experienced, the seeds of an Egyptian team of world calibre was sewn years back. The Pharaohs' rise to prominence began in 1995 when a sixth place finish in the World Championship in Iceland rang alarm bells in Europe. A slight dip to seventh in the 1999 World Championship and in the Sydney Olympics appeared to suggest a much bigger slide was inevitable. But in France, the Egyptians hit the brakes.
The pundits believe the performance could have been even sweeter had the referees been on our side. The debate over officiating has raged for years. The view of the local press is that time and again Egypt is on the short end of decisions made by referees with an agenda. Referees, claim the local media, are out to prevent Egyptian handball from making ground or ever reaching higher ground in the sport. They cite as evidence a comment once made by former International Handball Federation President Erwin Lanc. Though he was happy, he had told reporters here, to see how Egypt had improved, it, nevertheless, rankled him to see the country break into the top 10 world ranking, effectively denying Europe a place in world and Olympic championships.
In all fairness, Egypt has been several times the victim of court decisions that have cost it dearly. But to portray Lanc's aside as meaning intentional officiating prejudice against Egypt is grossly unjust. As long as there are matches, referees will be right behind. As such, the issue of their competence or otherwise will never go away. Concrete steps that should be taken by the IHF is a determined effort to raise their standard by organising more seminars and weeding out those who show obvious bias or ineptness or both.
One would also suggest that the Egyptian squad should try to reach a level of play so high that even the decisions of the worst referees imaginable will have little impact on the outcome.
The Egyptian feat in France signals that such a day is not too far off.
For now, the squad should look ahead -- in more ways than one. The future means trying to climb up even more on the world ladder, no easy task now that many countries will be gunning for the new boy in town. The team should also be looking for new talent. Veterans like captain Ahmed Bilal will not be around forever.
This recent handball accomplishment should also wake up the sleepy heads at the helm of other local sports federations. No Egyptian team sport has ever even approached world standings enjoyed by this handball squad. Their accomplishment in France should be the target goal for all others.
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