The event, held at the premises of Al-Ahram Establishment, in Heikal Hall, was attended by the establishment's Chairman of the Board Abdel-Mohsen Salama and editors-in-chief Alaa Thabet and Maged Mounir of the daily Al-Ahram and Al-Ahram Al-Mesai respectively, as well as Mohamed Gad, president of the G-Global Company, the creator of the project. The event was also attended by top officials from the Ministry of Youth and Sports and Al-Ahram Establishment, and was covered by print and broadcast media outlets. According to the agreement, the two parties will jointly organise the first edition of what is called Supporting and Developing Egyptian Sports. The sports minister said the protocol achieves the goals of the ministry "which is keen to implement the plan by supporting and nurturing current and promising athletes as part of the strategy of developing all kinds of Egyptian sports. "The ministry is always keen on digging and scouting for young talented and promising athletes throughout the whole country. They are spotted from an early age and once they are selected in their governorate, they join the ministry's national developing programme for talented and Olympic champions." Sobhi also praised the Olympic Programme, which is responsible for Egyptian athletes who have qualified for this year's Olympic Games in Tokyo. "So far, the programme includes 55 male and female athletes who are being prepared for the Olympic Games" scheduled to take place in July/August 2021. The Olympic Games were postponed for one year because of the breakout of the Covid-19 pandemic. And, though it was re-scheduled for 2021, the Tokyo Games still retain the title of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. The minister also highlighted the ongoing fruitful cooperation with Al-Ahram Establishment in the sports championship sector while emphasising the importance of good planning by detecting and determining the sports where Egyptians excel in and are worth investing in. Al-Ahram's Salama was delighted to announce the renewal of the cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports in the sports sector. He said he "appreciated the role of the sports minister" during his mandate in elevating the sports sector and successfully hosting major African and world championships since 2019 "which led to the huge success we all witnessed last January at the World Handball Championship which was held despite the tough challenges brought on by the pandemic." G-Global Chairman Gad confirmed that having both institutions, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and Al-Ahram Establishment, as partners "would lead to exerting more effort in developing Egyptian sports as well as supporting and investing in Olympic athletes. "We are getting very close to the Olympic Games in Tokyo and we are also working on a current plan to nurture and prepare athletes to be ready for the next two editions of the Olympic Games, Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028," Gad said.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 25 March, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
