Egypt's Ahli Club began its centennial celebrations while the African Football Federation marked its 50th year. Inas Mazhar covered the occasions Egypt beat Sweden 2-0 in a friendly football match played in Cairo last Wednesday to kick-off the beginning of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The game was also held to raise funds for charity. On Friday, Ahli began its own celebrations, marking its centennial, with a jam-packed symposium at the club's headquarters at Gezira which hosted chemistry Nobel Prize winner, Egyptian Ahmed Zuweil. Ahli's centennial celebrations will run from February to August and will witness, according to the centennial committee chairman Ibrahim El-Moealem, several sports, cultural and social events all over the country. "Ahli club is a big part of Egypt's contemporary history and is more than just a sports club," El-Moealem told reporters at a gathering on club premises. "Therefore, the celebration will include celebrities from the field of science, culture and entertainment among others." El-Moealem said that among the contributors will be movie star Adel Emam, composer Ammar El-Sherayei and novelist Farouk Guwaida. He also highlighted the role of Information Minister Anas El-Fiqi who gave his support in terms of promotional material and coverage of Ahli's celebrations. "The celebrations will receive uncontested coverage and will be across Egypt," El-Moealem said. "All of Egypt's clubs are welcome to participate with us in this unique celebration. Any club, not necessarily in Cairo, wishing to share with us our celebrations, is invited. We will be ready to visit them to celebrate." Ahli board member Khaled Mortagi also spoke about the preparations for an anticipated exhibition match that will see Ahli play against a European side. "We want to have the match in August," said Mortagi. "We are still negotiating with some European clubs but I can assure you that it will be one of the continent's leading teams." Recently, Ahli was placed 26 among FIFA clubs' world ranking, the first club in the region to be placed so high. Ahli will also host the World Handball Clubs Championship in June as part of the celebrations. Ahli is an Egyptian sports club founded and headed by the English gentleman Mitchell Ince in April, 1907 in Cairo. However, the idea came from an Egyptian, Omar Lotfi, who shared the idea with Idris Rageb Pasha, Omar Sultan Pasha, Ismail Serri, Abdel-Khalek Tharwat, and Amin Sami. They came together with the idea of establishing a club for high school students to spend their free time, as the Union was formed for political reasons in the first place. They decided to establish a company for LE5,000. The higher administrative committee chose Englishman Ince as the first president of Ahli in order to get the blessings of the occupation authorities and to help obtain suitable land from the government for establishing the club. The club has risen from popular roots to become Africa's greatest club. Ahli, best known as the "people's club", is believed to have 50 million supporters, making them the most supported club in Africa and the Middle East and one of the most popular in the world. Ahli, which means "national" in Arabic, is the most crowned club in Egypt, having won the Egyptian League 31 times (more than the sum of all other Egyptian clubs including their arch-rivals Zamalek) and the Egyptian Cup a record 34 times. Moreover, Ahli has won the African Champions League five times (a joint record), the African Cup-Winners-Cup four times (a record), the CAF Super Cup twice, and the Afro-Asian Cup once. The club was named African club of the 20th century by CAF in 2000. Ahli began to dominate the Egyptian game in the 1940s due to its popularity among people and rulers of Egypt at that time. But it was not until the '80s that the Red Devils emerged at the African level, winning the top club competition in 1982 and 1987. They triumphed again in 2001, 2005 and 2006 under the coaching of Portuguese Manuel Jose. Ahli have collected 98 major football trophies and are poised to win two more, the national league and African Super Cup, within the next few weeks. Earlier this week, the CAF returned to its birthplace in Khartoum for its 28th General Assembly, which is the supreme authority of CAF and which defines the organisation's general policies. A two-day workshop on the future of African football and CAF members was organised. At the concluding session of the congress, President Issa Hayatou received unanimous support from 50 national associations to seek a fresh mandate in 2009 and guide Africa through the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The resolutions from the national associations was a culmination of a two-day congress which also coincided with the colourful 50th anniversary celebrations that marked the birth of CAF in Khartoum, Sudan in 1957. Hayatou acknowledged the confidence CAF members had shown in him and promised to continue serving the African body with dedication and commitment. The members appreciated that CAF had grown in strengthen and stature and were organising numerous football competitions and activities. The CAF congress which opened in Khartoum earlier this week was attended by FIFA President Sepp Blatter and other guests who graced the two-day gathering. Hayatou said it was a big battle to bring the World Cup to Africa in 2010 and thanked Blatter for being in the forefront of the achievement. Hayatou paid tribute to the founding fathers of CAF and said that during the past 50 years, the continental body had achieved a lot because of the vision and foresight planning of the founder members. He said CAF's 50th anniversary was a huge milestone in the history of football in Africa and its achievements were there for all to see and appreciate. He urged CAF members to use the opportunity to promote football in their countries as well as benefiting from the business potential that the 50th anniversary will provide. He added that CAF was now organising more competitions because of good organisation and management which he said should be sustained to achieve more in the future. He appreciated the role CAF was playing in the fight against apartheid and its help in bringing back South Africa into the international sporting family in 1992. CAF was founded in Khartoum on 8 February 1957. The first match was played two days later in the Sudanese capital between hosts Sudan and Egypt. Hayatou confirmed that Africa was ready to host the World Cup in 2010 and assured the delegates that this will be one of the best World Cups ever. He also challenged African countries to strengthen their national league competitions to retain the best players on the continent. Blatter, who attended the opening day, said football had 250 million followers worldwide and that the game had gained a strong footing in Africa. He maintained that the decision to bring the World Cup to Africa in 2010 was final and was confident that South Africa will give the world a surprising party. Blatter appreciated the role the founding fathers of CAF had played in cementing a strong foundation. He said the game had achieved a lot since 1934 when Egypt went to the World cup on invitation. He confirmed that in 2010 Africa will have six slots because of South Africa's automatic qualification as hosts. President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan, who was honoured by Hayatou with CAF's highest ranking, the Order of Merit in Gold, said his country will do everything possible to support CAF in this year of African football, adding that he recognised the role football can play to unite the world. During the Congress the following players were honoured by CAF on the occasion of its Golden Jubilee for their outstanding contribution to African football: Roger Milla (Cameroon), Laurent Pokou (Cote d'Ivoire), Abedi Pele (Ghana), George Weah (Liberia), Kalusha Bwalya (Zambia), Augustine Okotcha (Nigeria), Hossam Hassan (Egypt), Rabah Madjer (Algeria), Lucas Radebe (South Africa), Badou Al-Zaki (Morocco), Mahmoud El-Khatib (Egypt), Pierre Kalala (RDC) and Tarek Dhiab (Tunisia). CAF also honoured journalists who have contributed to the growth of football in Africa: Pathee Diallo (Guinea), Messang Gnamey (Togo), Hedi Hamel (Algeria), Joe Aggrey (Ghana), Faouzi Mahjoub (Tunisia), Lay Diaw (Senegal), Nejib Selmi (Morocco), Mamadou Kaloga (Mali), Fekrou Kidane (Ethiopia), Paul Bassey (Nigeria), Mark Gleeson (South Africa), Abel Mbengue (Cameroon), Emanuel Maradas (Chad), Denise Rethaker (France) and Jacques Ferran (France). CAF's celebrations will continue this month in Ethiopia, the third stop, when the African Super Cup is held in Addis Ababa on Sunday. The Cup final will feature the winner of the Champions league, Ahli of Egypt, and winner of the CAF Confederation Cup Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia. CAF founding members are Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and South Africa. Additional reporting by Ahmed Morsi
