Club elections for Ahli, Zamalek, Shams, Tersana and Teram will all surprisingly be held according to the new sports regulations set by former Sports Minister Taher Abu Zeid, who was replaced in the last governmental reshuffle by Youth Minister Khaled Abdel-Aziz, now minister of both youth and sports. Elections for both Shams and Tersana have already been held. The remaining clubs' elections will be held by the end of this month. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was greatly pleased to note the good news and intentions mentioned in the joint letter sent by Minister of Sports Khaled Abdel-Aziz, Hassan Moustafa, president of the International Handball Federation, and Khaled Zein, the National Olympic Committee (NOC) president, and the significant progress made so far in line with the roadmap established following the Lausanne meeting in November 2013. In a letter addressed to the three sports bodies, the IOC said: “As indicated in your letter, we will expect to receive a copy of the new draft sports legislation in May. In the meantime, we also urge the national sports federations to finalise their own statutes with their respective international federations. Lastly, and as part of this general process, we understand that the sports clubs will also be in a position to establish their own statutes.” The IOC response was based on a five-page report on the sports situation in Egypt sent by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the National Olympic Committee and Hassan Moustafa, president of IHF and the representative of the Olympic Movement in this situation. Moustafa was selected by the IOC to represent the movement as an Egyptian familiar with the country's political situation and sports environment. Moustafa proved to be a great asset in aiding the revision process of the sport situation in Egypt. The Egypt letter to the IOC explained that both the head of the state and the new prime minister were very much concerned with the current situation of sports in the country. Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, who is a former president of a sports club, the Arab Contractors, appointed a new minister for youth and sports to assure proper follow-up of the Lausanne Agreement on 26 Novemeber, 2013 and to fulfill the country's vision for sports as clearly stated in the newly approved constitution. “I came to office at the beginning of March and I had very limited time to look into these issues; therefore we needed to move fast. If I had taken the responsibility in January, I would have had time to postpone the club elections until the law is issued, but now it is impossible to postpone the elections. There is no time and candidates have already applied for the elections,” Minister of Youth and Sports Khaled Abdel-Aziz told Al-Ahram Weekly. “If club elections were postponed, many boards would be extended to about five years or even more, instead of the legal term of 4. Since 118 clubs are currently in the final stages of the elections, any cancellation in this critical timing for such a large number of clubs could cause an uncalculated reaction from a good percentage of the Egyptian sports community. So, cancellation of elections in this stage carries ethical concerns,” he explained. “We can't issue a new sports law within a month and before the presidential elections. The law has to go to parliament for approval first and that takes time. We have to wait for the presidential elections and then the parliamentary elections first. That is why we contacted the IOC to explain the situation,” Abdel-Aziz said. “My main goal now is to ensure that the sports situation in Egypt is stable until the new law is issued. This is why we had to form the tripartite committee and address the IOC and FIFA, so we can go on with our elections until the new sports law is issued. The committee held several meetings to prepare the report that we sent, including the progress of the revision process of the Olympic Movement in Egypt, as well as to provide solutions for any previous breaches to the Lausanne agreement as clarified by the most recent letters from FIFA to EFA and the IOC letters to the Egyptian NOC and the Ministry of Youth and Sports,” he said. “It was very important to inform the IOC in our letter that we are serious about the sports situation and that we are working on the amendment of the Sports Law draft together with the NOC, which wasn't involved before. It will then go for public social discussion before it is approved by the new parliament and then issued. Our report also included the ministry's encouragement to the National Federations to start the process of issuing their new statutes without any interference from the government and in compliance with the statutes of their respective international federations. We also assured the IOC that there would be no intervention whatsoever with the internal operations of the National Federations or sports clubs from the government in future, but will be the responsibility of the NOC,” Abdel-Aziz elucidated. “We made it clear to the IOC that we were aware that the cornerstone of the revision process is a “new sports law,” which has to comply with the Olympic Charter. If properly done, this point could guarantee the basic principle of autonomy, which the IOC recommends.” In a press conference, Abdel-Aziz was fully transparent in addressing both sports officials and the media, explaining the situation in details. “We have nothing to hide. I am placing everything in front of you on the table. Club elections are to be held according to the sports regulation set by three former sports ministers, including the former minister, Taher Abu Zeid,” Abdel-Aziz announced. The decision is considered a victory for the former sports minister who had refused to speak to the media on the controversial issue since he was replaced in the last government reshuffle. Abu Zeid, however, has spoken to the Weekly. “Well, I have kept silent for two weeks to watch how things would go and I was sure I was right. Sometimes, silence means strength. I don't want to talk about it or explain it. To be honest, I never expected this outcome. I thought I would need to explain and justify the regulations later if the regulations were cancelled. But now, it is there and will be applied and the feedback of sports officials, media and whoever I meet regarding the regulations confirms my point,” Abu Zeid told the Weekly. However, the former sports minister, the only minister to have been a famous former footballer, refused to comment on his ousting from the government after spending eight months in office, or whether he thinks he stands another chance to re-join the government or if he would go back to analysing the sports scene on TV as he used to do before joining the government. “So far, I haven't decided what to do. But, I will still remain in the political scene,” he said.
