Betrayed

Ismaili laid the blame for their humiliating and what could prove costly loss in the Arab Champions League squarely on the Egyptian Football Association. Mohamed El-Sayed reports from the coastal city

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This Ismaili supporter tries to hold back tears during the match against Sfax

Ismaili's chances of qualifying for the semi-final of the Arab Champions League took a severe knock after losing 3-0 to Sfax of Tunisia last week in Ismailia. Ismaili, who have gathered only five points from five matches, must now wait for the result of the Saudi derby between groupmates Ahli Jeddah (six points) and Ittihad Jeddah (two points). Sfax have already qualified for the semis after collecting nine points regardless of their last group match against Ittihad Jeddah.

Ismaili was quick to blame the football federation for the loss after it refused to reinforce the club with any national team player. Given that five Ismaili players were added to the national team, five were injured, three not registered to play in the Arab championship, and one banned, there remained only 14 players, including three goalkeepers, to carry the day.

Theo Bucker, the German head coach of the Dervishes, had asked the national team's Italian coach Marco Tardelli to allow the five Ismaili internationals to play against Sfax, then return to the national team as it prepares for the first match of the 2006 World Cup qualifiers against Sudan on 6 June.

His request refused, Bucker had to depend on 14 inexperienced juniors. "I wish the Arab Football Federation would allow me and my assistant to play the match," said a sarcastic Bucker a few hours before the match.

With only four substitutes sitting beside him on the sidelines -- two goalkeepers, one injured player and another who had not touched a ball for seven months because of military service -- Bucker had no choice but to adopt a defensive approach throughout the game in an attempt to come up with a face-saving result. To the dismay of their fervent fans, the young dervishes failed in their mission impossible, instead suffering the worst defeat on their home turf in years.

Despite the loss, supporters cheered the players on during and after the match and showered the officials of the Egyptian Football Association with insults. Firmly believing in a conspiracy theory, they claimed the association was determined to throw obstacles in front of the team in any tournament.

"The association was behind our loss of the African Champions League title last year when they deprived us of two of our key players who were serving in the national team in the youth world championship last December in the Emirates," one supporter said. "What was the outcome? We lost the title and the youth team left the World Cup empty-handed."

"The only loser in this encounter was the reputation of the Egyptian football which was seriously harmed," Ismail Osman, chairman of Ismaili board, said. "I tried several times to solve the problem with the officials of the association but my words fell on deaf ears."

Bucker argued that Sfax was not so strong. "We could have defeated them if we had played with our international players.

"If the association officials are really keen on improving the game, they should adopt a more professional approach to managing its affairs. Otherwise, they shouldn't blame anybody but themselves for any failure."

Murad Mahgoub, manager of the Tunisian side, said, "If we played Ismaili 1,000 times in Egypt, we would not beat them like this." Being aware of the difficult situation Ismaili are in, Mahgoub expressed astonishment at the Egyptian association's stance on Ismaili's international players. "We faced the same problem but the Tunisian association allowed us to play with our internationals even though our national team was scheduled to play a friendly against Italy on 30 May."

Having announced two months ago that the teams participating in the Arab Champions League "will not be allowed to play with their international players", Essam Abdel-Moneim did a U-turn following last week's match. "Zamalek and Ismaili will be allowed to play with their international players should they reach the semi- finals." Abdel-Moneim's decision heightened the Ismaili's anger as it came after the announcement by Zamalek President Kamal Darwish that he will take severe measures "if the association deprives us of our international players in the final stages of the Arab championship." Ismaili accused the association of applying double standards when dealing with clubs.

Being a low-income club unlike the two Cairo- based powerhouses Ahli and Zamalek, Ismaili were pinning their hopes on winning -- or at least reaching the semi-finals -- of this lucrative championship so that they can buy new players for the new season. Ismaili's exit from this stage of the championship means they will receive 600,000 Saudi riyals ($150,000), compared to 6.5 million riyals ($1.6 million) which goes to the winner of this first year championship which is sponsored by the Saudi-funded cable TV network ART.

"We are looking forward to gaining more money from such tournaments to help boost our club. And the officials of the Egyptian association should take this into account," Osman said.