Ruled by the game
From the nation's alleyways to the palace circles, Egypt has historically held a place in every sphere of society.
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President Mubarak at Cairo Stadium; Former President Mohamed Naguib kicking off the 1953 Egypt-Italy World Cup qualification match; Former first lady Jihan El-Sadat reacts after her favourite team, Ahli, concedes a second goal; King Farouk at Alexandria Stadium in the 1940s
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From when the British first introduced football to the country in 1882, and Egyptians first set their sights on the formalised game of "ball", the two have become intertwined -- football evolving into one of the threads that comprises the social fabric of Egyptian culture.
This passion, however, has not been one shared by just the so-called masses, but rather, it has held a weighty place as well amidst the upper echelons of the nation's governing spheres. From Egypt's last king, Farouk, to former President's Anwar El-Sadat, Gamal Abdel-Nasser and President Hosni Mubarak today, most of Egypt's national powers have held the sport in a place of prowess.
THE KING AND HIS MEN: Despite being enwrapped in the turbulence that plagued his reign, King Farouk was perhaps the famous Egyptian ruler to display not just an interest, but a passion, for football. Sir Miles Lampson (later Lord Killearn) -- the British ambassador to Egypt from 1935 till 1946 -- wrote in his diary that "Farouk began watching football since his prime days," elaborating that Farouk was extremely absorbed in football, to the extent that he used to watch almost all the renowned derby games between arch foes Ahli and Farouk (now Zamalek) from the stands.
During a meeting at Abdin Palace on 24 December 1937, Sir Lampson narrated the minutes with the young king by his side. The meeting had been scheduled to discuss pressing political issues. Instead, it transformed into a debate about football and the king's perspective on the match he and Lampson had watched in Mansoura the week before.
The king's passion was a fact well-known. Mustafa Kamel Mansour, a talented Ahli player at the time, said that Farouk would frequently inquire whether he (Mansour) and Mokhtar El- Titish would play in the upcoming match or not. Farouk was known to be a zealous Ahli fan and a great admirer of the legendary duo of Mansour and El-Titish. His Ahli awe was blown away at times by the skill of others. In the final of the Farouk Cup -- a match bringing together arch foes Al-Mukhtalat (Zamalek) and Ahli -- Farouk was silenced by the spectacular performance of Al- Mukhtalat, who crushed the "Red Devils" 6-0. Out of admiration and respect -- and perhaps the awe of youth -- he renamed the victorious club "Farouk". It was renamed "Zamalek" by the Free Officers after the 1952 Revolution.
But beyond the seat of spectator, King Farouk played an active role in propelling the sport's growth -- funding numerous clubs and in 1946 financing the final stage of the Ismailia Club's construction. The grand sum, at the time: LE2,500.
He attempted, as well, to toy with the policies of the game. He once considered merging Ahli and Zamalek into one team, but experts advised him not to given that it would kill the spirit of competition shared with the nation.
The young king -- who was just 16 years old when he succeeded his father and took the throne -- has long been critiqued for his political reign. The sole thing, perhaps, for which he is applauded unanimously for, is the royal decree issued in 1948 initiating the National Football League. The league now boasts its place as the oldest in Africa and the Arab world. Even after his ousting from power in July 1952, he used to put wagers on the results of football matches in Italy, his exile, until he died in 1965.
It is not surprising that the prominent politicians that comprise Farouk's era shared their leader's passion. Mohamed Haidar Pasha, minister of war at the time, was one such character -- his name synonymous with Zamalek Club whose board he presided over for almost 30 years. Haidar Pasha also headed the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) for 15 years.
The gentleman's role amidst the Zamalek football family was pivotal. He would personally select the players to partake in derby matches with Ahli, and would lead them through a mantra-type vow that on that day "they would do their absolute best to win".
THE REVOLUTIONARIES: The 1952 Revolution brought little changes to the game. The Free Officers had little interest in the sport in their first years in power -- their energies consumed by the effort to consolidate a stumbling nation.
Football, however, fast became a golden political key -- the members of the Revolution Council using it as a means of establishing bilateral relations around the world.
In 1953, that agenda led the entire 13-member council of revolutionaries to attend the World Cup qualification match between Egypt and Italy at the Al-Gezira Stadium. General Mohamed Naguib, then president, went down to the centre line and kicked off the first ball to start the game. Egypt lost that match 2-1 -- the visitors qualifying for the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland.
Come 1955 and the consolidation of power, the Free Officers' interest in the game developed. Late President Gamal Abdel-Nasser resorted to the revenues of the national league matches to help finance the deal of the armament of the Egyptian Army, which he signed in September 1955 (instalment payments began in October). In light of football's political fruits, the entire Revolution Council, headed by Nasser, took to the stands to watch Zamalek and Ahli go head-to- head on 21 October 1955. The game ended 2-2, and of the match revenues (LE2,576), a sum of LE1,216 was poured into the armament deal.
Unlike King Farouk, Abdel-Nasser held no sporting bias, and was not by any means a devoted "fan". According to political writer Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, one of Nasser's closest friends, the former president showed interest in the game "solely for political reasons".
Mohamed Ahmed, private secretary of the late president, said "Nasser did not take great interest in the game. So, he was not a Zamalek or Ahli fan. However, he fulfilled all the demands concerning football and sports in general."
Heikal echoed that perspective, writing: "I never felt that Nasser had a clear inclination [to any of the big teams in the country]. He was looking at clubs and sports from a political perspective. He saw sport as crucially important activity for a country involved in political conflicts with other forces. So, he was interested in football games being played in Africa and considered it '[Egyptian] embassies'. So he never looked at football as a conflict between two clubs."
It is no surprise then that Nasser was upset when he was informed of the Egyptian team's upcoming encounter with Brazil -- the 1962 world champions. Renowned journalist Mustafa Amin, editor-in-chief of Akhbar Al-Youm newspaper, reflected on the incident.
"After the Brazilian team won the World Cup in 1962, my brother, Ali, and I, decided to invite the team to play three matches in Egypt -- two in Cairo and one in Alexandria," Amin recalled. "It came as a surprise to me when President Nasser himself phoned me and quarrelled with me, saying: 'Are you inviting a [powerful] team to come and defeat us.' His point of view was that he did not want us to be defeated at all, even in a football game. I tried to convince him that it was better for us to play with powerful teams and be defeated rather than playing with weak teams and win." The former president was indeed said to have been visibly distressed by the triple defeat.
Despite his unique stance within the football sphere, Abdel-Nasser was keen to honour players who left a visible mark on the game. Several months after the 1967 War, Nasser did not fail to give the retiring 17-year football veteran Saleh Selim -- an Egyptian football sensation in the 1950s and 1960s and now a legend -- a first-class sports Badge of Honour in recognition of his football achievements.
Nasser's lack of fervour for the game was deflected from public view by one of his entourage. Field Marshal Abdel-Hakim Amer, general leader of the Armed Forces and a close friend of Nasser's, was an impassioned Zamalek fan -- a product of childhood days playing ball in the countryside and city alleyways. In February 1958, he became the president of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA), a matter that gave considerable weight to the game in Egypt. He remained to be the president of the Egyptian Association until the Six-Day War in 1967. Indeed, the game flourished during his nine-year presidency of the association, assuming a place amidst the agenda points of the council's meetings. In 1965, for example, after a dismal season for Ahli, Nasser and his men dissected diligently at a Revolution Council meeting what had gone wrong.
THE SHORT-LIVED SADATS: Football's place on the meeting board was sidelined, however, with the 1970s and the coming of Anwar El-Sadat. Sadat was never seen attending a football match, and never expressed a favourite team. It was rumoured that behind closed doors, however, his Ahli passion was clear -- a point confirmed by Khaled Mohieddin, member of the Revolution Council.
Unlike her husband, Egypt's First Lady Jihan El-Sadat was care-free in displaying her Ahli support. As honorary president of the club, she held a reception for the Red Devils when they won the national league for the third consecutive season in the 1970s. General Abdel-Mohsen Mortagi, president of Ahli Club at that time, said "it was crystal clear in this reception ceremony that all the members of Sadat family were fervent Ahli fans. Egypt's first lady received the team with genuine warmth, and highly praised their achievements."
Like his policies, Sadat was said to have opened the door and let the sport take its free- flowing course.
A NATION ENRAPTURED: It is common knowledge that President Mubarak is a master of the squash court. But from the spectator point of view, football is known to be his sport. Like Nasser, Mubarak has no clear favourite local team -- he is seen sporadically at local league matches, but is pious in attending matches in which Egypt faces the world.
"I am not an Ahli fan or a Zamalek fan or a Tersana fan. I always support the team who play enthusiastically," Mubarak remarked on one occasion. "International matches are completely different from that of the National League and Egypt Cup. When Ahli, Zamalek or any other club plays an international match, they are playing in the name of Egypt. And when they win, it is a victory for Egypt."
In 1984, following Zamalek's winning of the African Champions League, Mubarak visited the premises of the 93-year-old club to congratulate its board and players.
"The high-quality performance and winning international championships give the Egyptian citizens a big boost," the president said on the occasion. "They consider these victories a personal triumph."
And the ride through each match is one of personal turbulence.
In September 1987, the president visited Ahli Club to congratulate them on their qualification to the final of the African Cup's Winners Circle after beating Africa Sport of Ivory Coast.
"I came today to sit with you for a while," he told the team casually as they encircled the casually-dressed president sitting on straw chairs in the open air. "I congratulate you on the great efforts you exerted in the semi-final match and on your qualification for the final," he offered. "Actually, it was a nerve-wracking game for me and for the Egyptian audience. I watched the game from the first minute, and I was influenced by every dangerous attack. However, I was quite sure that you would win as you did in past several matches. In fact, I was watching the match while influenced by Zamalek's loss to Kotoko in the African Champions League. But your victory alleviated that feeling of loss."
Mubarak's first live match as president came long before that -- in 1982 he watched the African Cup Winners Championship final between the Arab Contractors of Egypt and Power Dynamos of Zambia. The Egyptian team won that match, and title, for the first time in their history.
And he was present at every history-making match thereafter.
In 1986, he headed a gathering of 120,000 fans who attended the African Cup of Nations final between Egypt and Cameroon. Egypt won the game 4-3 on penalty spot. In February 1998, having been unable to travel given political visits, the president himself went to Cairo Airport to receive the national team who won the African Cup of Nations held in Burkina Faso. He had already congratulated the team, however, live on TV right after the final whistle blow. In recognition of their outstanding achievement, he received them again in the presidency to award them Badge of Honour.
Like most Egyptian men, Alaa and Gamal, the president's sons, share a national passion for the game -- partaking each year in the public, round-robin tournaments that mark the sporting festivities associated with the holy month of Ramadan.
A fervent Ismaili fan, Alaa used to support the Yellow Jerseys throughout the 1990s. When the squad won the National League in 1991 for the second time in their history, he went to Ismailia and congratulated them.
On a hot summer day of 2002, he was there in Ismailia Stadium to watch the final game in the National League between his favourite team Ismaili and Misri. Ismaili won the game 3-2 and won the title for the third time in their history. As he had done before the match to show his support, Alaa trekked down to the locker room and rejoiced with the men.
Unlike his brother, Gamal follows in the footsteps of his father -- showing support not for a particular team, but for the sport as part of Egypt's national fabric. In November 2003, Gamal flew to Emirates to support the Egyptian under-20 team in the World Cup in their last group match against Japan.
As the nation prepared to submit its 2010 bid file to FIFA last year, that infiltration of football into every circle of society was clear. From the blue-collar worker to the academics, intellectuals, businessmen, doctors, artists and politicians, the vote of support and endorsement of Egypt's campaign was voiced, and echoed, with force.
In many countries around the world, the love of football is notable and the surrounding sporting efforts laudable. In Egypt, however, there is perhaps a comparable detail of discrepancy in the game's place within the nation. Within the bounds of this Arab republic and African country at the crossroads of the world, football and identity are now by default interlaced.
