Kidnapping of key players
Head coach of the Ismaili club Theo Bucker opened fire on Egyptian football officials for depriving the Ismaili team of two key players in the Under-20 World Cup in the Emirates. He spoke to Inas Mazhar before his team's match against Enyimba in Nigeria
The Egyptian Football Association's (EFA) denial of two young Ismaili players to partake in the team's two matches against Zamalek in the league and Nigeria has been dubbed "The Kidnapping" -- a charged issue that led to the literal nonviolent kidnapping of Hosni Abd-Rabou and Ahmed Fathi from their national team training camp in Cairo.
The incident began when Ismaili coach Bucker requested that Abd-Rabou and Fathi -- Ismaili players, and part of the national team contingency -- leave the national team training camp to join Ismaili on two key matches. Bucker promised the EFA that the players would be flown to the Emirates promptly to rejoin the national team -- entailing their absence in just one national team match.
National team coach Hassan Shehata denied the request. Subsequently, Ismaili vice-captain, Ibrahim Osman, drove to the national camp grounds, sent an official to bring the players to the gate, and promptly ordered them into the awaiting car and drove them to Ismailia.
The players sent mobile phone messages to colleagues, and word of the dubbed "kidnapping" flew to the coach and EFA -- which promptly announced the suspension of the two players, and hence their inability to play.
In a press conference shortly after the EFA announcement, Osman said he would return the players to the national team, but stated his strong objection of the EFA's actions and unfair treatment towards Ismaili.
Head coach Bucker also expressed his anger at the entire issue, explaining that he had requested the return of his players from the management, but had not quite expected the employment of such drastic measures by his staff.
"I wasn't involved in the so-called kidnapping of the players because I have no influence," he told the Weekly. "I was in a spectator position all the time. I was doing my job professionally. I only informed the management that I needed these two players and they were the ones who took the action," he added.
The German head coach attacked the Egyptian football officials, however, describing their behaviour as amateurish.
"This is not professionalism," he said. "I'm really surprised how people can work under such conditions. The under-19 team is a national team to give young talented players the opportunity to gain experience from playing international tournaments. It is really a means of serving Egyptian football as a whole -- spotlighting Egyptian football in the international arena," he explained. "Even though these two players may be young, in the football field they are not considered kids anymore. They are professional players and part of a first team. If Mohsen Saleh has asked for them we would be glad to support the federation and the national team as well because it's part of the club's duty to support the federation and we expect the federation to support us as well," he continued. "No strong federation would succeed without strong clubs. If we want to make football higher we should work together and not against each other."
Bucker told the Weekly that he was sure the federation would have reacted differently if the case involved Ahli or Zamalek.
"It's a very unfair behaviour," he said. "I'm sure if this case has happened with Ahli or Zamalek it would have been different. What would have happened if we had taken the players and returned them back again? The best practice for any player is playing matches, it was the perfect opportunity for both players to play top-notch football in these two matches."
Prior to the first-leg match against Enyimba, and before leaving to Nigeria, Bucker said that despite losing to Zamalek last week in an important league match, he was confident that his team was ready for the first-leg in Nigeria, and that the Zamalek loss was the result of biased refereeing.
"Actually we didn't lose the game but the referee stole it from us," he said. "It was the luck of Zamalek that they had three assistants. It would have been easier if they had all put on white shirts from the beginning so we could know that they belong to them but it took us a while to figure that out." Bucker laughed sarcastically. "But it was got confirmation for us that we fulfiled our own demands in tactics and endurance."
Despite the tumultuous time, the team's rigorous training continues.
"In respect to our physical preparation, we have to keep up with our performance... We are keeping our normal programme going, with our main focus being on our mental preparation given our experience in Africa. It's very difficult, not because of facing a tough team, but because of the treatment regarding of the circumstances and environment; bad stadiums, long distances, catastrophic hotels, and the tricky behaviour of hosts who try everything to make us tired. Because of this we have to be mentally prepared," he shared.
Bucker, who previously worked in Egypt as head coach of the Ittihad of Alexandria, and in the Saudi Arabia for Ittihad of Jeddah, said the priority was to remain focussed and professional, and to try to mentally overcome the political obstacles in the way.
