24 - 30 May 2001
Issue No.535
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 24 - 30 May 2001 Issue No.535 |
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FIFA defaults
FIFA's decision to postpone the 2001 World Club Championship until 2003 skewered the plans of all 12 participating teams. For Zamalek, which would have been the first Egyptian club to play in what has quickly become one of football's most prestigious showpieces, the postponement was especially dismaying, writes Alaa Shahine.
"The decision has done us great harm and we won't accept it as a fait accompli," Mourtada Mansour, Zamalek's vice president, told Al-Ahram Weekly. "We were supposed to get $2.5 million for participating in the championship, and we should get the money even after the event was called off," Mansour added.
Mansour, a prominent attorney, said Zamalek will ask FIFA, through the Egyptian Football Association, for the money. "If it refuses, we will sue."
Zamalek did receive $500,000 of the $2.5 million but apparently the amount will not cover the costs of the club's massive spending spree. "We had already spent heavily on new players and renewing contracts," Mansour said. "Such a decision will definitely affect our plans because the money we received will not cover all our expenses."
Zamalek had been trying to beef up its team by acquiring players prior to the championship. Among those who were being closely watched were Ismaili's darling duo, Nigerian John Otaka and Reda Seeka, Tersana's Mohamed Abdel-Wahid and Mehalla's Mohamed El-Etrawi. Mansour declined to say what will happen next. "All I can say is we are close to cementing deals with some new players but we will not search any longer for world class material," since the championship has been postponed.
Zamalek was expected to start gearing up for the tournament next month with a series of training stints in Germany, Holland and Romania. With an African Cup Winners Cup second-leg encounter against Zambia's Red Devils just a few days away, Zamalek officials and supporters are worried over the effect the postponement might have on the players. "They are frustrated but we have confidence they will focus on the African championship," Helmi Toulan, the team's assistant coach, told the Weekly. "A decision has been taken and we have to put the whole thing behind us and focus on our quest to defend the African title," he added.
The tournament, which was scheduled to kick off in July in Spain, was a victim of financial difficulties facing some of the clubs and fixture congestion, according to FIFA's announcement, made by its Emergency Committee on Thursday and published on the federation's official Web site. But poor tournament marketing, the third reason given by FIFA, looks like the primary culprit which made holding the event impossible.
Whatever the reasons, FIFA's decision was greeted with dismay by all the clubs, big and small, who were all keen to take part in the money-spinner. Total prize money would have been worth $40 million; the winner would have pocketed $8 million.
It was a particularly painful blow for Brazilian side Palmeras who should have taken part in the first edition after winning the 1999 Libertadores Cup. However, the South American Football Confederation instead gave the place to Vasco da Gama, also Brazilian, which won the Libertadores Cup in 1998.
Top Australian football club Wollongon Wolves, which also qualified for the lucrative event, said its financial future had been jeopardised by the decision, adding that the cancellation will have a major impact on the club's future plans. "The Wolves had been relying on the guaranteed money to set the club up financially," the club's managing director, Graeme Haney, said. "A lot of our plans and progress were tied to this tournament but the decision will make us review such plans."
One unanswered question posed shortly after the decision was who would play in 2003: the same clubs that qualified this year or would fresh qualifications be played?
The decision and the immediate confusion could ultimately cost FIFA President Sepp Blatter his position, a senior FIFA official told Reuters.
"In one sense, the fact the championship has had to be called off is not such a big issue, but the competition stood as one of the pillars of Blatter's presidency," said the source, who spoke only on condition of anonymity. "A lot of people involved in it are going to be very, very upset with him now that it is not taking place."
"This competition was seen as a flagship, not so much for the major clubs, but for the smaller clubs to play a bigger part on the world's stage and get a slice of FIFA's financial pie," the source said. The smaller fry which will not get a bigger piece of the action unfortunately includes Zamalek.
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