Hassan Hamdi and his nine-man crew swept the Ahli club elections like no-one has before. Inas Mazhar reports on a huge poll victory What was supposed to have been a close vote ended in a rout. At the end of an often acrimonious campaign, the president of Ahli remained at his post, bringing with him a new board that changed the face of Egypt's most famous club. The huge popularity of Ahli club, led by its famed football team, ensured that the elections would be lively and at times bitter. In the end, the incumbent, Hassan Hamdi, remained head of the club for another four years, winning 10,059 votes against 4,438 votes for Hossam Badrawi who had been poised to present a stiff challenge to Hamdi. Hamdi became president three years ago after the death of football legend Saleh Selim. He was then Selim's deputy and thus acceded to the presidency automatically. Friday would be Hamdi's first election test and he passed with flying colours. Badrawi, a former Ahli board member, was despondent after the results were announced and apparently took out his anger at the head of the elections' legal committee. Another soccer super star of the past, Mahmoud El-Khatib, claimed the highest votes ever, 12,248, as opposed to only 2,295 for his opponent Mustafa Kishk. The African player of the year in 1983 -- the only Egyptian player to win the honour -- El-Khatib now becomes the club's vice president after being its treasurer. The elections for the treasurer was the closest of them all. Businessman Mahmoud Bagneid beat out Mahmoud Taher by 7,864 votes to 6,290. Hamdi's men dominated the elections, their margin of victory far outstripping their rivals. One of the highest vote-getters was former swimming great Ranya Elwani who garnered 12,173, to occupy the only women's seat on the board. Elwani's father, Amr Elwani, president of both the Egyptian and African volleyball federations, remained by her side until the results were released. Another new member was Khaled Mortagi, the son of the club's godfather and former president Abdel-Mohsen Mortagi. Khaled Mortagi received 9,825 votes. Following were El-Amri Farouk (9,513), Hisham Said (9,498), Mohamed Abdel-Wahab (9,279) Khaled El- Darandali (9,173) and Mohamed El-Ghazzawi (9,044). It was clear from mid-day that Hamdi was in the lead. Some club members started congratulating him even before the results were announced, which was not until the dawn of Saturday. After the official announcement was made, Hamdi said he was thrilled. "I am happy because it means that the club's members have confidence in me, and I won't let them down," Hamdi said. "The members are aware of my past achievements as president and when I was a board member and vice president. So it was normal that they chose the right person for the post. "During the next four years, I will continue to dedicate all my time and effort to the welfare and benefit of the club, as always." The elections ran from the morning to 9pm. Close to 16,000 club members voted, making it by far the biggest election in the club's history. Hamdi was the first of the presidential candidates to arrive, making the rounds of the polling tents and surrounded by hundreds of his followers, who reached the thousands by the end of the day. Badrawi and his considerably smaller entourage were in the club by 3pm, pressing the flesh in frantic last-minute campaigning for votes. Police and security did their best to facilitate the traffic in the area surrounding the club. Most people had to walk the last few hundred metres to reach the club after cars had virtually taken over the surrounding vicinity. Despite the high turnout the smallish club did surprisingly well in streamlining the voting procedure. A jam-packed queue stretching for around 50 metres was the sole inconvenience. Later, having entered the first of two large tents, the process took less than 10 minutes. Voters were first checked by their membership cards and government IDs. They were then asked to go to the nearest polling booth depending on the last two numbers of their card. They were given a list of candidate names next to which they were to write check marks. Voters, who included Defence Minister Mohamed Tantawi and Oil Minister Sameh Fahmi, were fed a constant blare of microphone electioneering by rival supporters who literally sang the praises of their respective men.
