Issue No. 595
Sports
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18 - 24 July 2002 Issue No. 595 Sports |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
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Next week, Cairo will host the Arab Basketball Nations Championship. Though the majority of Arab countries take part in this annual event, this year's event might go ahead without three familiar names owing to a row that has shifted the spotlight away from the courts.
The dispute, which erupted at a recent meeting of the Arab Basketball Federation in Egypt, arose after some countries were prevented from voting on certain items on the federation's agenda after failing to pay their annual dues. Complaining that that was insufficient cause to ban them from their voting rights, the countries -- Bahrain, Qatar and Jordan -- decided to withdraw from the tournament and form what they called a temporary committee, to be installed until the general assembly meets to elect a new board of directors and, perhaps, decide to move the federation's headquarters from Cairo to another Arab capital.
The committee reportedly has the full backing of the Arab Sports Federation, based in Riyadh, as well as its secretary-general, Osman Al-Saad, a Saudi.
The dissenting countries took their complaint to the Arab Sports Federation, accusing the current board of running the federation according to whims and showing bias towards some nations by consistently awarding them the right to play host.
The committee also accused the president of the Arab Basketball Federation, Hassanein Omran, of renting out a private apartment in Egypt to the Arab Federation, to be used as its headquarters, for thousands of dollars.
In his defence, Omran argued that the rules of the game were on his side, that according to the regulations of the Arab Federation, nations that refuse to pay their annual membership fees to the federation are to be banned from playing in any championship.
Omran, former president of the Egyptian Basketball Federation, said that before the meeting of the general assembly, all members were invited to attend and to participate in the Arab Championship in Egypt. They were reminded to pay their membership fees on time. When some nations declined, they were informed that while they would be allowed to participate in the tournament, they would not have the right to vote. They agreed then, Omran claimed, but soon after, did an about-face.
Omran said the allegations made by the three countries had forced him to take the case to the Arab Sports Council, affiliated to the Arab League, and not the Arab Sports Federation which he claimed has for long harboured a desire to move the headquarters of several Arab sports federations from Cairo. Omran said he presented documents and even video tapes of the meetings in which everything was agreed upon. Omran has gone to Prince Sultan, president of the Arab Sports Federation, accusing Al-Saad of being behind the opposition party.
Omran said he was certain the championship will be held, even without the three nations. What comes next is not as clear.
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