THE AHLI-Zamalek league match, scheduled to have been played today, has been postponed for security reasons. A terse announcement made on Tuesday would only say the match, to have been played at the military stadium, had been postponed for unspecified security reasons. Officials of both clubs refused to comment. It is expected that the game will be played sometime following the World Cup for Clubs in Japan that Ahli will be playing in. Farouk Gaafar, head coach of Zamalek club, cancelled the team's training camp immediately after hearing the news and sent the players home. Ahli officials, on the other hand, might feel a sense of relief, the postponement allowing them to concentrate fully on the World Club Championship to start 11 December. Ahli are expected to leave for Japan on 4 December. "We want to get adjusted to the weather and the time difference. One week should be enough I guess," said assistant coach Hossam El-Badri. The cancellation of the game postponed the question of what will Zamalek do against Ahli who these days cannot be beat. The Egyptian derby is always anticipated, many times living up to the pre-game hype and at times not fulfilling expectations. In the 11th week of the league season, Zamalek would have entered the match apparently hoping for no more than a draw and perhaps even a loss without the embarrassment. Victory was a far-fetched idea at the present time given the latest stretch of their downtown rivals. Ahli are riding a 55- game unbeaten streak, a world record, and are fresh from winning the African Champions League. On the other hand, Zamalek exited from both the African Champions League and more recently the Arab championship. They currently lie in second place in the domestic league, with 25 points, behind Ahli, the leaders and defending champions, who have a perfect 30 points from their first 10 games. Enppi come third with 18 points. Sports critic Fouad Fawwaz in the weekly sports newspaper Akhbar Al-Riadah, described the current period the "age of Ahli". Fawwaz also wrote: "hide your kids, Ahli is coming". Ahli won last year's league a whopping 25 points ahead of the runner-up Enppi and 35 points more than Zamalek. They then played in 14 African Champions League matches, winning 12 matches and drawing twice. They eventually won the African crown after beating Tunisia's Etoile 3-0 on aggregate. Both teams won their league matches last week. Ahli thrashed the Arab Contractors 3-1 whereas Zamalek managed a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Enppi in extra time. In their last two encounters, in the semi-final of the African Champions League, Ahli won both legs 2-1 and 2-0. Ahli also won the last two games between them in the domestic league. On the occasion of Ahli qualifying for the World Clubs Championship, FIFA held a press conference in Cairo on Tuesday attended by Mustafa Fahmi, CAF secretary- general, and FIFA media department member John Schumacher . At the press conference, a video of the participating teams was played and the trophy of the championship unveiled. Schumacher spoke about the championship's history and briefed the audience on the format. This is the second edition. The first was held in 2000, after which financial problems forced a five-year postponement. The tournament will take place in Japan even though no Japanese team is taking part. "This is a different event. It includes only the six winners of the continental federations. So the host nation has nothing to do other than be an organiser. And Japan is organising the event because it is the home country of sponsors Toyota," Schumacher said. "It's too early to say if the tournament can be held anywhere else in the world. But for sure it will be held in Japan again next year. Maybe things will change and one of the participating teams will apply to host the championship." The design of the official trophy shows the globe supported by a collar of six staggered pillars with one separated from the group to indicate the champion. The graceful curves and inherent strength of this trophy evokes the balletic and athletic qualities necessary for a team to win the championship. "The trophy has been cast predominately in gold and silver to reflect the prestige of the competition," Schumacher said, adding that the FIFA delegation had travelled to all other five clubs to attend similar press conferences and to unveil the trophy. "Ahli club was our last stop before Japan. We came here to congratulate Ahli for their outstanding history and achievement. We hope Ahli will be a strong representative for both Egyptian and African football."
