Egyptians weren't too happy with FIFA's penalising of the national football team but had worse things to say about their own soccer officials, Inas Mazhar reports The punitive measures imposed on the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) for failing to protect the Algeria team players before the Egypt vs Algeria World Cup qualifier in Cairo on 14 November 2009 came as a stunner. Few believed that Egypt would be penalised following a campaign blitz by the EFA that Egypt was in the clear. But in the wake of the decisions taken by the FIFA disciplinary committee last week, many Egyptians now believe they have been duped, not by FIFA or the Algerians but by their fellow countrymen in the EFA. Egypt will have to play their first two 2014 World Cup qualifiers at least 100 kilometres away from Cairo, in accordance with the FIFA punishment that was imposed for the assault on the Algerians. Apart from relocating the two World Cup qualifiers, FIFA fined Egypt $88,000 (around LE500,000). The punishment was levied after rock throwing Egyptians attacked the Algerian team bus in Cairo on 14 November before a crucial World Cup qualifier. The Algerians supported their claims with a video showing that Rafik Halliche and Khaled Lemmouchia, among others, suffered head injuries in the attack. FIFA could not support the consistent claims by Egyptian officials that the Algerians themselves broke the windows of the bus from within the vehicle, or the accusation that the Algerians themselves purposely injured themselves. FIFA's announcement has put the EFA and especially its president Samir Zaher under intense pressure. "For three months the EFA sold illusions to the Egyptians and their media but the FIFA punishment uncovered the truth," wrote sports journalist Atef Abdel-Wahed. "We have been fooled," said accountant Amir Ismail. "Zaher and his men had convinced us that there was no attack on the Algerian bus and that it was a conspiracy on Algeria's part to hurt our image. For months we were led to believe that we had presented a strong case to FIFA to prove us right and the Algerians guilty. But it now appears that our file was very weak and did not persuade FIFA." On an Egyptian TV show on the night of FIFA's announcement Zaher was in a jovial mood, saying Egypt was lucky that points were not deducted in the 2014 qualifiers and described the punishments as reasonable. However, to the public, the FIFA penalties proved the EFA guilty and many people, including those in the media, have demanded that Zaher resigns. What infuriated Egyptians just as much as being punished was that Algeria was not punished for the purported attack on Egyptian fans in Om Durman in another World Cup qualifier on 18 November after FIFA cited a lack of evidence. "This means that EFA officials also fooled us when they said that they had prepared CDs, video clips as well as other evidence to show that Algerian fans attacked Egyptian spectators in Om Durman after the match," said university student Ayman El-Sheikh. "Now FIFA says the EFA has failed to meet the conditions to open procedures which means that the EFA, which spent months telling us they have prepared a good file, is fake." "The EFA spent months collecting items from newspapers and asking the public through its website to submit any mobile clips which prove the Algerian attacks in Cairo and Om Durman. What became of this evidence?" asks sports critic Abdel-Shafei Sadek. "[FIFA head] Joseph Blatter embarrassed the EFA in January when he told Al-Ahram Weekly and the Al-Ahram Al-Riyadi sports magazine in an exclusive interview that he hadn't received any documents from EFA officials when they met him. "The EFA told us they had spoken to the FIFA president and submitted a file which was not true. Their photos with Blatter, which were published in all the newspapers, convinced us that everything was going okay for Egypt," Sadek added. TV talk show host Amr Adib of "Al-Qahera Al-Yom" rebuked Zaher and the EFA, saying they owe the public an apology when they denied that the Algerian bus was struck by rock-throwing Egyptians and that it was the Algerians who damaged the bus from the inside. It seems it was always going to be a steep hill for the EFA to convince FIFA that their delegation, which included renowned politicians, actors, actresses, journalists and TV presenters, suffered in Om Durman. "There weren't any organisational problems. Everything was in place to make sure everybody is safe," Moatasem Gaafar, the Sudanese organising committee head, told a news conference at the time. Al-Tayeb Babacar, who was responsible for security, also said they had not detected any Algerian fans brandishing knives, as many Egyptians in Om Durman had asserted. In the middle of the fray has cropped up an unforeseen side story: Egypt's former national team captain Ahmed Shobeir recently accused the EFA of instigating the attack on the Algerian bus. Shobeir gave no explanation for such an implausible claim but reports suggest it was an attempt to embarrass the members of the EFA so much so that it would allow Shobeir to win elections as EFA head in late 2012. The EFA did say that before the 14 November game their members rallied Egyptian fans but nothing more. Shobeir later apologised to the EFA, claiming he was misled by "false information from sources". EFA officials have rejected Shobeir's apology. Shobeir has also been banned by the minister of information from presenting any TV or radio programmes affiliated to the Egyptian Radio and Television Union. The EFA plans to sue Shobeir for his accusations and "for leading the public to believe that the EFA was behind staging the attack on the Algerian bus." Should the EFA decide to appeal to FIFA or the Court of Sports Arbitration, the aim would probably be only to resurrect its image and sedate the public.
