Cup ahead
Quashing doubts that Egypt's football cup would be played this year, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has decided that the tournament must go ahead, writes Mohamed El-Sayed
Several reports had suggested that because of Egypt's participation in this month's African Nations Cup and the 2004 Athens Olympic qualifiers, there would be no room for the Egypt Cup. But the EFA, meeting on Sunday, decided to put the cup on the calendar and, indeed, to lay down new rules for the 80- year-old competition -- the oldest in Egyptian sports -- first held in 1923.
The competition will begin tomorrow with 42 matches being played in the preliminary stage that will not involve any of the 14 Premiership League squads. The matches will involve teams from the second and third divisions of the national league. Unlike last year's edition, all the fixtures will be held on a one-game knockout basis. In case any encounter ends in a draw in regulation time, 30 minutes of extra time will be tacked on without the application of the golden or sudden death goal.
After the preliminary stages, another draw will be held to determine the fixtures of the last-32 stage. The federation also decided that players on the national team could join their clubs starting from the last 16-stage.
EFA officials also confirmed that no match will be played unless prior consent is received from security forces ensuring that stadiums are capable of holding the expected number of spectators.
The federation stressed that the participating clubs must comply with the terms of a contract signed between the EFA and the Al- Ahram Advertising Agency in which the agency has the right to place advertisements inside the stadiums, on the players' jerseys and on match tickets.
The decision to play breathed new life into Egyptian clubs who are currently in the middle of an unprecedented 75-day halt in league games. The stoppage has resulted in enormous financial losses to the clubs who have to pay their players at a time there is no income coming in from advertisements or broadcasting.
Ahli, the defending champions, have won the cup 32 times. Zamalek are a distant second, taking it 20 times. Tersana and Ittihad have hoisted the trophy six times each, the Arab Contractors, Ismaili and Olympic twice while Qanah, Misri and Tram have won it once each.
