Half - time:
Honesty not the only policy
By
Inas Mazhar
As I have said many times, I respect the Egyptian Handball Federation and its president, Hassan Mustafa. And I continue to do so, especially after listening to the reasons Mustafa cited as being behind the team's recent failures, which included his and the federation's own shortcomings.
But this in no way implies that the story has ended. At a press conference, Mustafa conceded that the federation knew what it was in for before playing in last month's Portugal world championship because of the errant preparations of head coach, the Yugoslav Zoran. It knew what was coming months in advance and while Zoran was talked to more than once about giving too many players a tryout, for example, the federation's members still kept him on board and kept mum.
Mustafa claims the federation was in no position to interfere but as president of the federation, isn't he supposed to interfere when the situation calls for intervention? He could have at least discussed the team's progress and there happens to be a big difference between discussing, suggesting and butting in.
Zoran obviously was not taking criticism of him into account and stories by his players of his insensitivity towards them justified action being taken.
The federation claims it feared a public backlash if it had booted out Zoran just before the championship. But they had no qualms about taking the same action against last year against the Croatian head coach during the African championship.
The federation again claims that the sacking of Zoran would have come on short notice time but let them be reminded of 1995 when the federation was then headed by Mohamed Fadali; Mustafa was head of the technical committee and responsible for the team. Just three months before the world championship, coach Karim Murad was sacked and a German replaced him. The federation was lashed at by the press for what it called impulsiveness. The new coach also had the temerity to ax three key players -- but he did so en route to finishing in sixth place, then the highest in Egypt's history.
The next major test for the team is in June, as it tries to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Mustafa says the team, now with an Egyptian at the helm, might have to rebuild from zero in the next four months. We cannot afford to lose out on playing in the Games, having been the sole African representative in the past three Olympics. Mustafa has been honest but an additional policy is needed if we are to return to handball glory.
