With nearly a quarter of a million “likes,” Egyptians made their presence felt on Chelsea FC's official Facebook page just days after Egypt's international player, Mohamed Salah, signed for the Blues. It was not the first time for Egyptian soccer fans to invade a foreign club's Facebook page in this manner. Young Egyptian soccer fans have in the past frequently posted sarcastic comments to news updates on foreign clubs' pages. One such times was when Gedo scored his first goal while on loan to Hull City from Ahli last year. Egyptians stormed to the English team's page and literally occupied it. The Egyptian attack led the club to issue a statement under the headline of “Hull City Arabic,” in which it asked Egyptian fans to write in English if they wish to leave comments. However, the most notorious Egyptian comment on a foreign club's Facebook page came right before the last FIFA Club World Cup, in which Ahli represented Africa. Ahli's fans occupied the page of European champion Bayern Munich after the German club congratulated Ahli for winning the African Champions League and qualifying to the FIFA Club World Cup in a post. An Ahli fan left a comment on the club's post telling them that “Ahli will take you behind the factory of chairs.” The comment became famous after the German club asked the fan, Abdel-Hamid Fouda, about the meaning of the expression he used. Fouda's comment, which was adopted from an Egyptian comedy and refers to an isolated place were lovers would head to for some “private time,” was followed by a storm of mockery. Other Egyptian fans volunteered to explain to the admins of the page what the expression meant. The funny part was when the admins used the same expression later on after beating Broussia Dortmund 3-0 in the Bundesliga (German League). They posted a message on the page directed to Egyptian fans saying: “Dear fans in Egypt, thank you so much for your fantastic support! Borussia Dortmund 0 - 3 FC Bayern München. PS: factory of chairs... ;).” Back to Chelsea's page, Egyptians have taken it over to the extent that a fan commented on the page saying: “Is this Chelsea's page or Ghazl El-Mahala's?” The page has been swamped with comments in Arabic, mostly on the subject of Salah and invariably sarcastic. “If you are not going to play Salah, give him to Ahli and take El-Sayed Hamdi and Ahmed Raouf as a gift,” Mahmoud Gaber commented on the photo album of the last match, in which Salah did not play. Hamada Elmgko also commented on a link to Jose Mourinho's thoughts on the last match. “I warn you Mourinho, next match I'll blast you, the club and the chick on the bench (referring to medical staff member, Eva Carneiro).” Under his threat, which he wrote in Arabic, Elmgko wrote his English translation of his comment in two words: “Congratulations Chelsea.” It may be amusing how Egyptians storm to these Facebook pages, take it over and turn it into a comic playground. In the final count, however, the only party who benefits from this in the real world is the club. The clubs are indifferent about what Egyptians say on their Facebook pages as long as they like the page and are active on it. The number of likes on these pages is not just a number. Likes are converted to money for such large clubs who know exactly how to benefit from the expansion of their fan base. One such ways the clubs employ is to sell their merchandise and attract sponsors in the areas where they have the most fans. Several clubs in Europe have been targeting the Arab world as of late by launching an Arabic version of their official websites, such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan and Bayern Munich. In their quest to reach the Arab market, more exposure to Arab and Egyptians fans on their Facebook pages is definitely welcome. Although the clubs care little about the sarcastic content of the Egyptian fans' comments as long as they are on the page and active, these clubs' fans may care. They may feel offended by such comments or view them as a lack of respect. For someone who does not know anything about Egypt or Egyptians, to see such comments, which are mostly full of profanities towards their team, coach or players, would lead to a bad impression of Egyptians as vulgar and rude. This at a time when the country is trying to enhance its image abroad to encourage its flailing tourism industry. Nevertheless, Facebook remains a comfort zone for young people to be themselves without thinking of the consequences, even if harmful to the country's persona abroad. The writer is a freelance journalist.
