22 - 28 February 2001
Issue No.522
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 22 - 28 February 2001 Issue No.522 |
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All fun and games
The Francophone Games is not the most popular of sporting events and certainly one of the least organised. The Games are officially held once every four years but the schedule is flexible. The first took place in Morocco in 1989; the second, in France, was held five years later. The event was staged in Mauritius three years later, in 1997.
The participation of Francophone member countries is just as helter-skelter. Egypt passed up on the inaugural Games, made its Francophone debut in France but opted to sit out of the games in Mauritius.
And unlike any other sports tournament, the Francophone Games -- intended for French-speaking nations -- is not just meant for athletes. It hands out gold, silver and bronze medals not just to sports men and women but to people with artistic talents who can sing, dance, paint and sculpt.
In this erratic but apparently enjoyable tournament, Egypt will enter for the second time. At a press conference on Saturday, Minister of Youth Aliyiddin Hilal said Egypt will participate in the Francophone Games-- in just about all the events -- when it is held in Canada from 14 to 24 July. The decision was made at a meeting of Francophone sports ministers who met in Cairo this week under the auspices of President Hosni Mubarak. Ministers of youth, sports and culture representing 36 nations took part in the four-day conference in which Egypt was selected to head the organisation's executive bureau.
The Canadian delegation at the conference gave its assessment of the preparations being made for the Games, which are to be held in Ottawa and Hull. More than 1,900 sports men and women -- 30 are Olympic medallists in Sydney -- are expected to take part in the 10-day event. Canada also announced that its embassy will grant visas free of charge to all participants. Ottawa will host the heads of delegations of the participating nations in early April to check final preparations.
More than 1,000 people are expected to participate in the artistic and cultural competitions. Helping them and the athletes will be 3,000 volunteers.
In Canada, Egypt will participate in football, handball, boxing, wrestling, judo, table tennis, track and field and sports for the handicapped.
The 1994 Games was overshadowed by the football World Cup which captured most of the world's attention. That was unfortunate for Egypt, for it did well in France. It won the silver in football, losing the gold to the hosts. In wrestling, it collected a silver and a bronze.
From table tennis it netted two bronze medals in the men's singles and doubles.
In judo, Egypt won four medals, including a gold in the women's over-72 kg by Heba Rashid and a silver by Sherine Moussa in the 52 kg category. Ayman El-Sheiwi and Basel El-Gharabawi won a silver medal each in the 95 and over-95 kg categories. The handball team missed out on a medal, placing fourth.
Egyptian pop singer Anoushka, on stage at the famed Olympia Theatre in Paris, won a gold medal of her own and a congratulatory phone call from the French minister of sports who asked her to take part in the closing ceremony with Ya Lili Ya Eini, her hit song which landed her the gold.
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