By Inas Mazhar GEZIRA selected its new board of directors which will lead the club for the next four years, writes Inas Mazhar. The incumbent Gezira club president will serve a second consecutive term, beating his chief opponents Adel Abdel-Baqi and Hamada El-Demerdash. El-Said collected 2,415 votes. Despite the pre-election hype, only 7,415 members voted out of nearly 35,000. Only 6,445 votes were valid. Observers, even judges supervising the elections, wondered aloud about the low turn-out. The reasons remain unclear. Only after 20 ballot boxes had been counted did the results become clear. "I'm glad I won," a jubilant El-Said said after winning the elections. "This means I'm remaining because of the confidence the members have in me and my programme. It's an appreciation by the members for my hard work and my service to the club for the past four years. I wouldn't have won if I hadn't accomplished my programme or part of it. I think a relationship based on trust and respect was built between us. "I will maintain my policy and continue the projects I began," El-Said said. "I'll meet with the new board and we'll work together. Even if there are others who weren't on my list, we as a board represent the club and as long as the voters believe we are the best then we should work on proving that. We will work for what is best for Gezira." The elections were closer for the vice president's seat as all four candidates were popular. The race was won by tennis commentator Islam El-Sanhouri after collecting 2,434. El-Sanhouri came ahead of his arch rival Amr Gazarin who was running with El-Said. Gamal Moharam was elected treasurer. The winning members were Mohamed El-Sawi, Ihab Lehita, Maha Mourad, Ahmed Abou El-Fetouh, Tarek El-Beheiri, and Nihal Ahdi and Ibrahim Zaher under 30 years old. The elections were attended by Samir Zaher, president of the Egyptian Football Association and Hassan Hamdi, president of Ahli club. The first meeting of the new general assembly, which saw only 2,000 members attend, was put off until the figure reached 7,000.
