Egypt opens its doors to African Cup Soccer 2006

After a long period of preparation, Egypt opens its doors to the African soccer teams participating in the African Cup 2006.

After the fiasco of its 2010 World Cup bid, the hosting of the African Nations Cup starting next week is an opportunity for Egypt to show its worth, but preparations have been anything but smooth.

In an interview published in the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper, tournament director Khaled Abdel Aziz boasted of the achievements of the organising committee and insisted everything was on track for the continental showpiece starting on January 20.

"Let the fans come and have fun. The time for criticism is over and we should now witness the many achievements," the tournament director said, with the launching of the 25th edition of the championships only a week away.

But ever since it was announced in October 2002 that Egypt would host the event, fans, officials and commentators have voiced deep scepticism. "Unfortunately, lack of preparedness is a habit in Egypt and Arab countries in general," said Alaa Sadek, one of Egypt's leading sports columnists. "We know nothing about organisation, despite the many good players that we have and we simply are not committed to excellence," he said.

Many fear that the organising committee has marketed the event poorly and will not reap the windfall so sought after by host nations and even risks failing to break even. Bar a few television shows and the release of a tournament theme song, there is little in the streets of Cairo - a bustling, football crazy metropolis of 17 million to indicate that the country is poised to host a major football tournament.

"All the people involved in the organisation have no experience," Sadek said. "There is a world-class Egyptian sports marketing expert, but he has been hired for other events taking place in other countries; he wasn't hired by Egypt."

He pointed out that the organising committee's entire budget was only $4-million (about R25-million), which equals the cost of the inauguration ceremony alone for the previous edition in Tunisia.

The committee - which was even reprimanded in parliament over its shortcomings - quickly faced insurmountable infrastructure problems and had to appeal to Egypt's rich and powerful defence ministry. The defence minister, Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, himself a passionate sportsman, accepted without hesitating.  "The army saved the tournament," Sadek marvelled.

One of the main concerns was the state of Egypt's stadiums, which were last tested at international level for the 1997 Under-17 World Cup and have needed upgrading since the Africa Cup was last held here 20 years ago.

The re-opening of the Cairo Stadium, the tournament's main venue, was delayed several times and the $24-million (about R150-million) renovation will undergo its first test when a capacity crowd of 74 800 attend the January 20 inauguration. Buoyed by the November triumph of Al-Ahly - the country's largest club - in the African Champions League, Egyptians will now set their hopes on a good performance of the national team to erase the stinging disappointment of the 2010 bid for the World Cup, in which Egypt failed to clinch a single vote.

Source: The Pretoria News / 13 January 2006

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