Alexandria became the second Egyptian city to lose the honour of hosting a major sports event, Inas Mazhar reports The first sports event which Egypt lost was Cairo hosting the U23 African Championship which was also to be the football qualifiers of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. The other event was even bigger, the 18th edition of the 2017 Mediterranean Games. With only a two-vote difference, Alexandria narrowly lost the bid to Spain's Tarragona 36-34 in a selection process held in Turkey earlier this week. Though there has been no official confirmation, Egypt most likely lost out on both events because of security concerns and the current unrest in the country in the wake of the revolution. Only last week a deadly shooting in Cairo involving demonstrators and army troops killed at least 20 people. Following the withdrawal of the Egyptian Football Association from hosting the CAF U-23 African Championship due to "understandable circumstances" as the African Football Confederation described it, CAF confirmed that the newly-created CAF U-23 championship will now be held in Morocco from 26 November to 10 December with the top three teams qualifying for the 2012 Olympics and the fourth placed team taking on a side from Asia in a play-off. The tournament will be hosted in Marrakech and Tangiers as main venues, with additional venues being Rabat and/or Fes. According to CAF, the full updated calendar will be announced shortly. The 2013 Med Games are now scheduled to be held from 30 June to 9 July. The host city was announced during the ICMG General Assembly in Mersin, Turkey, host of the 2013 Games. The Turkish city replaced the Greek city Volos which withdrew from hosting the 17th edition because of budget constraints and austerity plans. The last Games were held in Pascara, Italy. Alexandria had hoped to bring back the Games to where it was born, in Alexandria, by Egypt's Mohamed Taher Pasha, chairman of the national Olympic Committee then, who created this event in 1951. Since then, Alexandria has not seen the Games. The Egyptians had planned to build a new Olympic village for the 2017 Games in Burg Al-Arab. The Tarragona win made it the third Spanish city to host the Mediterranean Games. Barcelona hosted the 1995 event while Almeria hosted the 2005 edition. That's why Tarragona's motto is History Making History. It was reported that all Arab countries voted for Egypt except for Syria. Malta also voted against. These were the two votes that prevented Egypt from winning the bid. The Mediterranean Games are a multi-sport tournament held every four years, mainly for nations bordering the Mediterranean Sea, where Europe, Africa and Asia meet. The first 10 games took place one year preceding the Olympics. However, from 1993 on, they were held the year following the Olympic Games. The Games were inaugurated on October 1951, in Alexandria, Egypt, in honour of Taher Pasha, with contests being held in 13 sports along with the participation of 734 athletes from 10 countries. Ever since, the Games have been held every four years without interruption. The Mediterranean Games present an opportunity for peaceful athletic competition between youth from continents, cultures and religions -- all bound together via a common Olympic ideal which sprang up from the ancient Mediterranean country of Greece, the cradle of contemporary Western civilisation. A chance is thus given, through the Games, for young people to get to know each other, appreciate each other, reaffirm and strengthen their ties in a climate of genial rivalry. The Games are held under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee and the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC). However, their establishment too must be credited to the HOC, for it held a leading part in their being founded.
