11 - 17 April 2002
Issue No.581
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 11 - 17 April 2002 Issue No.581 |
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Welcome invasion
More Egyptians are tuning in on European football. Alaa Shahine need not wonder why
It was a busy evening at Bustan Al-Amal coffee shop in Agouza. The waiters were scurrying to serve tea, coffee and waterpipes to customers who gathered in front of a huge TV screen to watch a football match. But it was not a local game which was causing the excitement; on show was the English league on a night in which Manchester United were playing a crucial game against Middlesbrough.
"We usually attract a large numbers of customers every day," said Gamal, the head waiter. "But when there is an important foreign match, it's another story. The place is packed, especially with teenagers."
Gamal said Egyptian football hardly attracted people any more unless the national team was playing, and even then it would have to be an important championship or qualifier. "Egyptian teams play lacklustre football. One of our greatest investments has been setting up a satellite connection so that people can watch the Premiership matches and the Italian Siere A."
It was not hard to verify Gamal's claim of the increased popularity of matches from abroad. Crowded in front of the screen were people of all ages, many of whom were wearing jerseys of their favourite European teams. "I bought this jersey from England. It's an original," Aser Mustafa, a credit cards salesman at CitiBank, said, pointing to his £50 Manchester United jersey. But it was a sad night for Mustafa whose favourite team slumped to a 1-0 defeat against Middlesbrough, allowing Liverpool to move atop the table following a last-gasp 1-0 victory over Chelsea the following day.
The Liverpool match was also shown at Bustan Al-Amal, and again there was Mustafa, with a friend this time who was clearly a Liverpool fan, seeing how he jumped for joy after Vladimir Smicer netted the match's lone goal for the Reds in injury time. "I am a fanatic Liverpool fan. I support Ahli [of Egypt] as well, but the standard of Egyptian football is so poor that many times I don't watch Ahli matches, something I never do when it comes to Liverpool," Mustafa Fawzi, a computer system engineer, said.
So enamoured is Fawzi of the British game that when Spanish giants Real Madrid visited Egypt last August to play a friendly against Ahli, Fawzi was in Cairo Stadium, not only to root for Ahli "but to see Real's English player Steve McManaman," a former Liverpool midfielder.
Some players who have the ability to attract millions of fans are bought by teams with a view to global marketing. They purchase players not only on the basis of what they can do on the field but where they come from. Two weeks ago, Real club president Florentino Perez expressed interest in signing England's superstar Michel Owen from Liverpool to attract more English supporters.
"Geographical considerations are taken into account. With the signing of [Zineddine] Zidane, many French and Arabs became Real Madrid fans. Now I want to sign an English star," Perez said. "Our strategy is to incorporate one of the world's top players every year."
Like Real Madrid and Manchester United, lesser-known European clubs also seek maximum exposure. Holland's relegation-threatened Roda last week signed Saudi international Nawwaf Al- Tymiat to prop up their midfield and boost the club's profile in the Middle East.
Before the satellite boom in the 1990s, the only window Egyptian fans had on European football was on occasions when Ahli or Zamalek invited world-class squads like Real Madrid or Portugal's Benfica to play in Cairo. In the 1980s, the popularity of European clubs, especially Italian, grew dramatically when Egyptian TV began broadcasting the Italian Siere A matches and the European Champions League, allowing viewers the chance to watch stars they had until then only read about or heard of.
With the introduction of satellite TV in Egypt a decade ago, which coincided with the steady decline of Egyptian football, many fans have simply tuned out of the local version. The majority, however, continue to follow their local clubs but have found European football a necessary supplement. "I used to support Ahli but they play poor football," Basel Ramzi, an Internet consultant, said. "So now I prefer watching European matches instead. You can't watch an Inter Milan vs Juventus match one day and Ahli or Zamalek the other. Watching Egyptian football is like watching grass grow."
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