Rhythmic gymnast Heba El-Borini is fighting against her own federation for a berth at the 2012 Olympic Games, Inas Mazhar reports A few days ago, a provisional list of the Egyptian delegation to the 2012 Olympic Games was announced. The list did not include the name of rhythmic gymnast Heba El-Borini. For many who have been following the outstanding career of the flexible Egyptian sports star, the first thought that came to mind was that El-Borini had retired. She has not. At the international level, El-Borini has proven to be a gifted champion who changed the image of Egypt in the sport after performing world-class routines and elegant moves while donning the most fashionable costumes at world championships. Reporters attending international events were proud of El-Borini, with all the applause and cheers she received from the stands and some world officials calling her Queen of Rhythmic Gymnastics. El-Borini, the top ranked African rhythmic gymnast with six gold medals at the 2007 Arab Games and the all-round champion, should thus be going to the Olympics. International gymnastics officials who have seen El-Borini perform are surprised the provisional list doesn't include her. The officials are of course helpless as the decision depends on the Egyptian federation and the National Olympic Committee (NOC) since international bodies have no authority to intervene in internal matters. But it seems that corruption which is prevalent across the country might have found its way to the Egyptian Gymnastics Federation. Though El-Borini has had such a successful career garnering national, regional and international medals, the federation and in its president Amr El-Said are reportedly insist on sidelining El-Borini to pave the way for another gymnast to represent Egypt in the Olympic Games. According to Bothaina Lotaif, El-Borini's mother, El-Said has been unfair to her daughter and she deems her the real champion. "He suspended her for a whole year so as to give the chance for other gymnasts to raise their level of performance while my daughter was suspended. The last time El-Borini took part in a competition was the World Championship in Moscow 2010 where her scores made her the top ranked player in Africa. Her teammate Yasmin Rostom who has been selected to represent Egypt in the Olympics was ranked second behind El-Borini in the World Championships. Before that El-Borini was crowned champion of Africa in Namibia while Rostom was ranked seventh. "So, he punished Heba and swore to drive her to retirement and have her colleague replace her. He prevented her from training anywhere or taking part in international championships even with her own money since December 2011. A year makes a difference in athletes. Heba missed from seven to 12 competitions during that period including this year's World Championships. He gave her place to Rostom to help her increase her ranking while Heba dropped. But I never gave up. I continued training my daughter and sending her to international training camps in Russia and Bulgaria, the best countries in rhythmic gymnastics, and all at my own expense. "We tried again with him to lift the suspension but he refused and then sent the whole issue to the head of the technical committee Noha Abou Shabana who also refused without giving any good reason. "It angers the president and the Egyptian referees when they see how she overshadows her teammates which makes the president even more stubborn. They have been killing her dream, since she was a kid, of playing in the Olympics. He wants her retirement. But we decided to fight so I complained to the National Council for Sports and the National Olympic Committee which ignored our complaint for months and which cost me missing many international championships. Now that it's getting close to the Olympics, I submitted another complaint but this time to the Cabinet. The president of the Federation is now under investigation, not only because of my daughter's case but also because of other issues of corruption with the federation. We need fair trials to prove who really deserves to represent Egypt at the Game," Lotaif says. The past week has seen a media campaign against El-Said, uncovering several of the federation's financial and administrative mismanagement. Leading national newspapers Al-Akhbar, Akhbar Al-Riyada and Al-Gumhuria have tackled the issue. Famed sports journalist and TV presenter Ibrahim Hegazi talked to Lotaif live by phone. The corruption also supposedly includes selecting unqualified athletes for the national teams, for complimentary reasons, while sidelining the real talents. Reports also reveal El-Said leaving Namibia after taking part in an African championship without paying the required fees of the competition or the hotel, making Egypt's image less than flattering. On Monday, columnist Alaa Abdel-Hadi of Al-Akhbar newspaper wrote in his column Fadfada about El-Said's corruption and wondered who is backing him since he is the son of a former minister who belonged to the past regime. Abdel-Hadi also questioned how El-Said managed to become in charge of the sport when he himself has never practiced it, "never been an athlete, referee or even an administrator." According to the columnist, El-Said has imposed himself on the clubs, collecting fees from them for participating in each of the four annual events that he created. "So instead of the federation supporting the clubs it has become the other way around."
