Egyptian football: fans are tired of sacrificing too much

CAIRO: Like many Egyptian football fans, Mahmoud Hachem sees "no reason to be thrilled" by the Africa Cup of Nations that will be held in the country until July 19 without the participation of the host country.

"As a fan, I am deprived of everything that made me love football," he told AFP after the match between hosts dull to defeat Saturday by South Africans.

Hachem, 30, a strong supporter of Egyptian power Al-Ahly, said he was having a hard time being disappointed by the latest embarrbading defeat of the national home team.

"There have been a lot of problems in Egyptian football that have caused me, and many of my acquaintances, to be less interested in football," he added.

The football scene of the North African country has been chaotic in recent years, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) being completely upset and a war of words bursting to find out who is responsible for the mismanagement of football.

The national league is also in disarray and a badual harbadment scandal involving one of its players just wrapped up a hectic tournament for the hosts.

FANS PROHIBITED

For more than seven years, national championship matches have been held mainly in ghostly stages empty of spectators.

The violence in the stadiums in 2012 and 2015, which killed a hundred people and involved security forces, led the authorities to ban matches to supporters.

This ban has been relaxed in recent years, with small contingents of supporters being allowed in the stadiums.

They are required to present their national identity card and register for a specific part of their registered club. This request may be rejected.

Mahmoud laments that control extends to how fans interact with the game.

"Even some singing for a team or wearing specific player jerseys is forbidden," he said, referring to the iconic Egyptian striker Mohamed Aboutrika.

Hundreds of fans paid tribute to the legendary player, who retired in 2013 after helping Egypt win three African Cups over the last decade.

They chanted his name during online matches and viral clips.

Aboutrika is in the line of fire of the government, which considers him a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Islamist party was declared a terrorist group in 2013 after being overthrown from the government.

Aboutrika is exiled to Qatar, where he works for the beIN Sports sports network in Qatar, and remains on a terrorist watch list.

For Hashem, the Golden Age was replaced by a haggard Egyptian team lacking vision and unity, even with the presence of Liverpool star Mohamed Salah.

Hashem stayed away from the stadium because he does not want his presence to be "exploited" by officials who have gone to great lengths to show the organization of the tournament in Egypt.

& # 39; DAY OF GLORY & # 39;

Hani Abu Rida, president of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA), resigned Sunday with his board highly criticized after the defeat of the Pharaohs.

Shady Habashy, 33, who hosts a YouTube channel dedicated to "reliving the" glory days of world football ", entitled" Tarikh and Korafia "(History and football-ography), said he is delighted with this news.

His channel aims to educate younger generations on how the game was "more beautiful than the one played today."

"I am happy that my country is organizing such an event, that it presents a beautiful image and that visitors can easily come and go," said Habashy, father of a six-month-old girl.

"But they are foreigners and as an Egyptian, I see things from a different angle," he added.

He blamed Rida, a member of the FIFA Council, and his group of close friends of the EFA, the misfortunes of Egyptian football, especially the poor "quality" of the players chosen in the team that testified to a lack of "respect for the fans".

In his plush apartment located in a posh suburb of Cairo, Al-Ahly's devoted fan is watching the Africa Cup of Nations matches on his big screen plugged into beIN Sports.

He prefers to avoid the hbadle of going to watch matches from the stands for which a fan ID – a special license needed to enter the stadiums – is required.

"The football years were much better for the fans than what we see now," he said.