Issue No. 599
Sports
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15 - 21 August 2002 Issue No. 599 Sports |
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Half-time
Silence of the lambs
The Ministry of Youth is known to be the main authority in Egypt responsible for sports. In accordance with the law, it acts as an observer to all sports clubs, federations and organisations' activities, questioning them in the case of any failures, and interfering in the face of problems.
Surprisingly, however, the ministry, these days, has taken on a silent stance with regards to serious issues unfolding on the nation's sports fields. Just days ago, while Zamalek's football team practiced during a training session, a verbal fight broke out between a member of the administration and another member of the technical body of the team. In front of the usual crowd of supporters and fans, the two gentlemen created a scandalous scene, exchanging obscene gestures and vulgar lingo.
How can such a scene unfold in a famous and respectable club? A place which is supposedly a venue where our kids are not only meant to be taught sports, but also manners, and ethics. As soon as the details of the incident were published in the press, we expected the club to take action and look into the matter. There was no comment, however, and surprisingly, the ministry remained silent -- never taking any steps to bring closure to the scandal and re-establish the ethics and principles that once dominated the local sports fields.
Once again, the ministry has maintained its silence when two popular sports have shown failure recently. The first being basketball, and the second being Tae kwon do.
Despite playing host to the African Youth Basketball Championship, Egypt's national youth basketball team failed to win the African Championship, and therefore lost the opportunity to qualify for the World Championship in Malaysia next year. How could Egypt lose its dignity and pride while on home turf? How could it lose the title, when we have been masters of the game for so long? How could we be eliminated from the preliminary round when we are playing at home, backed by the support of the most fanatic of basketball fans in the continent; leaving four other nations to compete in the semi-finals? And how, above all, could all this happen without the ministry inquiring into the striking deterioration?
These questions need answers. But the question, again, is from who -- given that the members of the federation's board have shown that they react callously to defeat? They haven't winced an eye -- acting, instead, as if nothing has happened. Instead, they continue to watch the games from the stands, appearing on TV and distributing the medals to the winners. The fact that Egyptians are strikingly absent from the podium, is something that goes unmentioned.
Anywhere else around the world, response would have been fast, and in fact, a resignation of the respective federation's board would have been expected. In our case, however, the main goal of sports officials seems to be keeping their seats at board tables. This, it appears, surpasses the desire to produce results and enhance the development of the game.
So if they are not the ones to provide answers, to whom do we turn? The ministry, one would assume. In the midst of all this, however, the ministry, again, remains silent.
To take another sport to make the point: Tae-kwon-do is another sport that has seen remarkable results accomplished under Egypt's name during the past decade. Not on a local level, but on a global one too. In recent years, we have celebrated with our local sports heroes world victories; which have included gold medals in world championships for both men and women. Last week, however, against all foreseeable expectations, the nation was stunned when the Egyptian delegation returned empty-handed from the world championship. This delegation -- that boasted four previous world champions -- failed to win a single medal. This time there were answers. They were answers, however, which lacked logic and were slammed by the public and critics as unacceptable. The federation's officials blamed poor referee judgment, referees bias, an unfair draw, and the new amendments to the game's regulations as the reasons behind the defeat. Far from being up to par, there were, at least, answers: a mark of the federation's sense of responsibility in the event of abysmal results.
But, once again, I ask 'what about the ministry?' Why does it not leap to use its power as the official authority to enhance sports in Egypt? Why can it not bring itself to confront sports officials in the country? Is it, critics wonder, that it has lost hope in a nation whose sports arena has displayed an abundance of scandals in recent years? It appears to many that the ministry is the lost lamb amidst the minefield that makes Egyptian sports; a governing body unsure of what to do and where to turn. Fans and critics together, however, urge them to strike out and try to rectify the sorry scene on many local fields and pitches. Please, sports fans eager for quality urge, don't let this turn into an eternal silencing of the lambs.
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