Abeer Anwar speaks to Ashraf Sobhi, the newly appointed head of cavernous Cairo Stadium Ashraf Sobhi, a professor at the Physical Education University, is well-known to Zamalek club supporters . He was head of Zamalek's sports marketing and its media advisor, but now leads Cairo Stadium Authority after being appointed by Kamal El-Ganzouri, Egypt's prime minister. Sobhi has a doctorate from Canada's Ottawa University in Sports Management, making El-Ganzouri believe Sobhi was the right man for the job. "I was very excited to do something for my country and for youth after the revolution," Sobhi said. "I was not able to join in the Tahrir Square protests because I wanted to take more positive action so I thought that this (Cairo Stadium) might be the right place to serve my country." The demonstrations brought down Hosni Mubarak as president on 11 February 2011. Cairo International Stadium is an Olympic- standard, multi-purpose stadium with a seating capacity of 75,000. It is the Arab world's second largest after Egypt's Borg Al-Arab Stadium which can hold 86,000. When Cairo Stadium was first built, it could take up to 120,000, making it the second biggest in the world at the time after the Maracana in Brazil which used to seat close to 200,000. After renovation, Cairo Stadium shrunk when the stone benches made way for more comfortable individual seats. It is also the 69th largest stadium in the world. Located in Nasr City, a suburb northeast of Cairo, it was completed in 1960, and was inaugurated by then president Gamal Abdel-Nasser on 23 July that year, the eighth anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. In 2005 in preparation for the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations, the stadium underwent a major renovation, and was brought up to 21st century world standards along with all its multi-game Olympic facilities. "The way I see it, the main problem of the stadium is administration and management, not facilities. The government's view towards sports venues and facilities is completely different from that abroad. Abroad a site like Cairo Stadium with such vast facilities can bring millions to the country's budget if well- managed." Sobhi's dream is to turn the stadium into an international sports city." It has to be developed to meet international standards and play host to international events." Taking advantage of all sports activities in the country being postponed in the wake of the Port Said disaster on 1 February when 74 people died in a soccer stampede, Sobhi decided to start by renewing the stadium's facilities including the football pitch and its surveillance cameras inside and outside the stadium for a capable security network. "We will also change all the iron partitions between the stands to prevent any problems in the future." Cairo Stadium befits the role of Egypt's capital as the centre of sports events in the region. Besides its famed football grounds on which teams like Real Madrid Barcelona, and Brazil have played, the stadium also has a tennis complex, an outdoor hall, swimming pools, squash, indoor halls, a hockey stadium, peripheral fields for training for football, track and field, synthetic grounds, an international stadium for horseback riding and an international cycling stadium under construction. All of these facilities are open to the public. Sobhi is drawing up a marketing plan for the stadium to make optimum use of all what's available including food courts. He says some areas in the stadium complex can be used as amusement parks "but there are some obstacles we are trying to resolve. There are very old contracts with some people to use the stadium's facilities for the long term and this is what we are trying to find a solution to. We are working on setting up a business module. The stadium is one million square metres but what is really used is only 300,000 metres." Sobhi is also working on recruiting the right people for the right jobs. He is in the middle of reshuffling the entire authority. "I need to make use of what I have in the best way possible." Sobhi also seeks to develop not only facilities "but people." As for the league tournament, which was halted following the Port Said tragedy, Sobhi said it was difficult to stop the tournament for too long a time since it was the only amusement for millions of youths. "I think it will restart but not right now." According to Sobhi, the Cairo Stadium Authority is responsible only for preparing the facilities the soccer teams need but that the host club is responsible for safeguarding the match. Ahli and Zamalek, Egypt's two top football clubs, play most of their league home games in Cairo Stadium. Adds Sobhi: "The stadium will be ready to host any event by 1 April."
