The most accurate reflection of the failure of Egyptian sports this year is to be found not in the heavy defeats the handball, field hockey and water polo teams suffered in Athens, nor in the usual losses of the club and national football teams, nor weightlifter Nahla Ramadan's Olympic demise, but in the zero Egypt was smacked with when the country bid to host the 2010 World Cup Egypt thought it was a shoo-in to win; that turned out to be an extraordinary miscalculation. When they decided to be among the five countries contesting for the organisation of the first football World Cup to be held in Africa, Egyptian sports officials said the country would win blindfolded, thanks to its pioneering role on the continent. There were, though, some obstacles standing in the way. South Africa, the eventual winning bidder, was one, plus Egyptian overconfidence and wishful thinking. Both proved to be more than enough. The result was that never before had Egypt suffered such a traumatic loss of prestige in sports. The bid campaign started smoothly enough. A committee was formed to promote it and distinguished member Hisham Azmi left no stone unturned, touring the country and the world on PR campaigns. Also done was a five million piece of paper pyramid erected at the foot of the real Pyramids accompanied by a dazzling concert by singer Mohamed Mounir that was attended by more than 100,000; and a bus tour through Europe to rally more support. Despite all the work, reports had South Africa ahead. Which is why, just a few days before the big announcement, Egyptian hopes received a boost when the report of FIFA's technical committee -- that had visited the five bidding countries to inspect their facilities -- was issued. Egypt was in second place behind South Africa. On judgment day, 15 May, it all came to naught -- literally. When FIFA President Joseph Sepp Blatter opened the envelope at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, not only had Egypt lost but had laid a goose-egg. Not a single vote was garnered. Fourteen votes for South Africa, 10 for Morocco and nothing for Egypt. "Not one single vote?" "How humiliating!" "I thought we would at least come in second" were among some of the most common reactions to the collapse, summing up the feelings of millions. Surprisingly, Blatter said he was not surprised at all that Egypt had gone home empty-handed. "The Egyptians had a good file and good presentation, may be better than good, but they had no chance. The file committee showed no seriousness." Blatter's revelations, while belated, clearly showed that Egypt had failed to approach the matter in the right way. To much time and energy had been wasted on too many useless gimmicks. "No one seemed to pay much attention to the tangible factors governing international relations," Al- Ahram columnist Salama A Salama wrote in the aftermath. "No one paused to examine how FIFA, an organisation used to high-level wheeling and dealing, truly operates. "The officials in charge of the bid justified their failure by hinting that Europe was biased in favour of South Africa, that votes were bought, and so on and so forth. No one, however, addressed the question of why South Africa won 14 votes, Morocco 10, and Egypt 0." The media was awash with harsh critique as was the People's Assembly where the fallout was equally rapid. Youth and Sports Minister Alieddin Hilal was summoned to answer angry inquiries about what had happened. Seven months later and the People's Assembly has come up with nothing. Hilal was an early victim, replaced in the recent cabinet reshuffle, but other heads have not rolled. While 2010 was a mega-disaster, Egyptian sports suffered the usual string of failures, albeit of lesser magnitude. The football team was eliminated from the first round of the African Cup of Nations in Tunisia. Again, the same rituals followed -- there was a wave of anger among the people, the issue was discussed in the People's Assembly, the head coach and the Football Association board members submitted their resignation. The new board, headed by Essam Abdel- Moneim, appointed the Italian Marco Tardelli as a replacement. Tardelli resorted to video recordings to select players, spending more time in Italy than Egypt. The result was the loss of eight points out of 15 in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. At the midway point, Egypt currently lies five points behind the Ivory Coast and are in danger of missing out on its fourth straight World Cup. Tardelli was sacked, but up until the time of writing a permanent replacement has not been found. In any country, the end of year should always be a time to reflect on the past year's achievements and underachievements, and not just sports. The officials concerned objectively assess the ups and downs and where they really stand in order to learn lessons. However, in Egypt the year will have come and gone without anything having been learnt at all.
