Al-Ahram Weekly | Sports

		1 - 7 August 2002 Issue No. 597 Sports	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Recommend this page

A slick trick
The Egyptian football community is in chaos after the news broke that the Olympic team was conned in their friendly matches with Romania. Inas Mazhar looks into the matter

It is seldom that a team returns home from abroad happy with results, only to later change its mind. Last week, however, Egypt's national Olympic team was forced to do just that.
It was a story that made the Egyptian team laughing matter. Last week, they returned victorious from a six-day event in Romania, telling the press they were satisfied with their play, especially given that their two games were against the Romanian Olympic team; known to be "strong". The Olympic team's first match was broadcast live to the world: Egypt versus Romania, the team jersey's announced. Egypt lost the first game in a close 1- 2 encounter, but gathered its composure to take the second 2-0 -- a match that was broadcast several hours after it was played.
The team was welcomed back warmly, and celebrated accordingly. The partying, however, stopped short. In a stunning news wire report, the news about the Romanian team's real identity was broken. The Egyptian team, the story said, had been bluffed: playing against a second-division team which was wearing the trademark Olympic jersey's. The news opened fire in all directions, and the Egyptian football community was literally thrown into chaos.
At the headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA), accusations were being tossed about in abundance. The EFA was slammed for "ruining" the reputation of Egyptian football, and the Romanian Arab Sports Academy -- which hosted the two international Olympic team matches and a four- team international tournament in Romania from 13-16 July -- was accused of deceiving the Egyptian team. The matches and tournament were just part of a friendly training agreement between the two countries, the other part being a training camp for the national team in Romania. The plans, of course, have been radically changed.
Minister of Youth Alieddin Hilal has had to act fast to absorb the public fury, announcing upon the release of the investigation committee's primary report that Egypt would no longer collaborate or cooperate with the Romanian Arab Sports Committee. The situation, however, looks dire, especially with the Romanian Football Association's (RFA) initial findings from its own investigation. The RFA announced that the Romanian team's head coach denied ever playing a match against Egypt's Olympic team. Hilal's investigative committee, the Youth and Sports Committee at the People's Assembly (PA), as well as other members of the PA, are all looking into the matter.
"The EFA put Egypt's reputation at risk when they agreed to play in Romania and deal with that academy," Hossam Awad, president of the Youth and Sports Committee, told the press.
The EFA's response was one of despair, stating that the federation was unaware that they were being taken-on.
"Our documents are correct, and we will present them to the investigation committee, and if they prove that the Academy did fool us [without our knowledge], then it will be the end of any kind of cooperation between us in the future," said Major General Dahshouri Harb, president of the EFA. Harb emphasised that all correspondence between the EFA and the academy's president, Egyptian-born Talaat Sheta, was "clean". He questioned the RFA, saying that it must have been aware of what was happening given that the president of the association was present during the matches.
Sheta, however, was quick to blame the EFA, saying that the federation was trying to deceive the public, officials and media; knowing quite well that Egypt would be playing against a second-division team under the guise of the reputed national team.
The reality? Nobody quite knows. If this was an attempt by the Egyptian team to save their untrained, out-of-shape grace, then they have dug their own grave. If it is an attempt by the Romania side to make Egypt's team laughing matter, they have done a great job. Whichever the case, one fact stands for sure: one football- related body has laid its reputation soundly to rest.

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