Five Egyptian sports clubs ran elections on Friday, penning the final chapter of one of the most notorious and controversial disputes regarding the event that is regularly held every four years. There have been endless rows, speculation and rumours involving international sports bodies about whether club elections should be held or not. The controversy had intensified in the last couple of months up to the second week of March, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) finally gave the green light for the elections to be held. The new board of directors of Ahli, Zamalek, Al-Zohour, Al-Tayaran and Sporting of Alexandria joined the other 118 sports clubs who have already gone through the elections process during the past month. The clubs' elections witnessed a high turnout from thousands of club members. Observers, club members and the media described this year's elections as being clean and transparent, saying the election and voting process ran smoothly. The sports clubs' elections also attracted Egyptian and international media. The media coverage that day was unprecedented. For the first time, TV channels, both state and private, broadcast the elections live since its very beginning in the morning and until the results were being announced by the early hours of the following day. As the top two clubs in Egypt, Ahli's and Zamalek's elections were received the highest media coverage. TV screens were divided into two parts showing the elections of both clubs simultaneously and at times were even divided into five to show the elections in the other three clubs. IOC Vice President Nawal El-Moutawakel, landed in Cairo while the counting procedures were taking place. At the VIP lounge of Cairo International Airport, El-Moutawakel, who had been invited to Cairo to attend a special event for women and sports, expressed her happiness as she watched the election procedures live on TV. “This is so transparent. I've never seen such a thing. I am glad it is being done now,” she said. Egypt's Minister of Youth and Sports Khaled Abdel-Aziz finally caught his breath on the following day after he succeeded in resolving the controversial issue. “Finally, all elections are being held according to the Olympic charter. Now, we are looking forward to the new sports law,” he told El-Moutawakel when he received her the following day. Earlier this week, the new boards of the sports clubs started work immediately towards fulfilling the promises they have made to their members, which all carried new hopes and visions for a better future. Ahli club's new chairman, Mahmoud Taher, was the happiest that day, not only because he became the 14th president in the history of the club, but also because the candidates on his list dominated all the seats of the board, winning with a much larger margin of votes than those on the other list led by Ibrahim El-Moallem. “I never expected the whole list to win. It rarely happens. Usually two or three drop from the list and people choose other people from the other lists or even from the independent candidates. When this happens, it creates a breeding ground for disputes among the board later on when taking decisions. But now, I think the job will be easier as we are the perfect combination,” Taher said. Famous lawyer and former judiciary member, Mortada Mansour, also clinched the president's seat of sports giant Zamalek, winning the most votes. For this post, Mansour beat the current appointed president Kamal Darwish, whom he later appointed as the club's consultant. Mansour, a former president of the club several terms before, started his four-year mandate by extending his hand to all in an attempt at correcting the mistakes of the past. Mansour also expressed support to the football team's head coach, Ahmed Hossam Mido. The new Zamalek board was expected to hold its first board meeting yesterday. According to Mansour, work has to start immediately. “The club has faced many difficulties in the past years. We have to rebuild the club again, especially some sports facilities and services. There will also be complete support to the sports teams and we are looking forward to convincing the Ministry of Interior to allow the fans back to the stands,” he said. The new presidents of Egypt's top two clubs, Ahli and Zamalek, both agreed that their biggest challenge was in solving the financial crisis that both clubs face, which has negatively affected the club and has led to a budget deficit. Although known to be arch-rivals, both Taher and Mansour have spoken about an intention to sign a cooperation protocol that will include a clause for players' transfers. Interestingly, recent media reports have reported Mansour as announcing that after his success in the club elections, he is considering running for the presidential elections.
