Whoever emerges victorious from the Egypt-Algeria World Cup play-off one thing is clear, we have all become victims of football frenzy, writes Dena Rashed Thirty-six years ago Said Abdel-Azim, an Egyptian Air Force navigator, was providing pilots with maps of their targets and locations. It was the 1973 Arab-Israeli war and their spirits were high. The whole nation was geared up to free Egyptian land. Patriotic songs were aired to motivate both the soldiers and public. Abdel-Halim Hafez sang khali al-selah sahi (keep your guard up), Algerian singer Warda sang, al-rababa, striking a chord in the hearts of all those waiting anxiously at home. Almost four decades later and the same songs were being played for days before last Saturday's 2010 World Cup qualifying match between Egypt and Algeria. Although Egypt won 2-0, it was not enough to secure the last African place in the world's greatest football tournament. The two teams met yesterday, this time in Sudan, for a play- off, shorty before Al-Ahram Weekly went to press. "These songs were the background music of the war, a mood adjuster for all army men. When they started broadcasting them on the radio and on TV before the match I got this weird feeling that I was going to war again," Abdel-Azim told the Weekly. An avid football fan, like millions of Egyptians, he was hoping for an Egypt win. But he could not understand why the match was taking on the overtones of a military conflict. Patriotic songs and motivational TV talk show hosts were only part of the story. It would have been hard to avoid the repeatedly aired radio advertisement asking 80 million Egyptians to pray for victory in Saturday's match, even harder to ignore the huge billboards in the streets, plastered with the Egyptian flag, again urging the public to pray. Flags, indeed, seemed everywhere, hanging from buildings, draped over cars, waving in the hands of passers-by. Car horns, fireworks, even live ammunition, formed the soundtrack to what was becoming an aggressively emotional occasion. After Saturday's match the Algerian press published unsubstantiated claims that nine Algerians had been killed and hundreds injured in Cairo following the game, guaranteeing acts of reprisal against Egyptians living in Algeria. EgyptAir's office in the Algerian capital was attacked, as were the headquarters of Orascom Telecom and The Arab Contractors. Hundreds of Egyptian employees of Orascom are reported to be trapped in their homes and offices. Although the Algerian authorities have requested that they remain where they are, 25 families have managed to return to Egypt. Tensions moved into the diplomatic realm when Egypt summoned the Algerian ambassador, Abdel-Qader Hadjar, demanding that the Algerian authorities safeguard Egyptian residents in Algeria. Two days ago both sides had realised the gravity of the situation, and so the blame game began. How could a football match turn so nasty? Judging by the hysterical fans partying in the streets till the early hours of Sunday, the simple answer is that more than a game was at stake. Egyptian sports commentator Hamada Imam hit the nail on the head when he said the crowd was placing its "hopes, dreams and ambitions" in the hands of the Egyptian team. Perhaps he should have added it was placing its frustrations in their hands as well. Some religious figures were quick to jump on the bandwagon. Sheikh Khaled El-Guindi announced days after Saturday's match it was a religious duty to cheer the national team. "As a Muslim scholar," he told the Weekly, "I believe it is a reason for joy to urge the young to play and cheer for sports instead of doing drugs and engaging in illegal acts. Also, winning and raising our flag is one way to show that we belong to Egypt." But taking over of the streets of Cairo and blocking traffic until the early hours, is that, too, a religious duty? El-Guindi admits that the situation span out of control. "It is not just the match. Randomness has become part of our society. When people are celebrating a wedding or a funeral they block the streets. We all have a role to play in raising people's awareness." Essam Abdel-Moneim, former football player, sports commentator and editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram Al-Riyadi, explained the significance of the match. "Egypt and Algeria don't qualify for the World Cup every four years like the European countries. Some generations wait a lifetime to see it happen." What happened in Egypt, Abdel-Moneim argues, is that sport became entwined with a nation's pride. "The media campaigns over-exaggerated the event and emotionally blackmailed the public, pushing the nationalist button to encourage them to support the national team." Hoisting the Egyptian flag everywhere, he says, reinforced the confusion, as did imbuing the game with religious connotations. Football aficionado Fawzi Qotb, a hairdresser in his 50s, believes that the government and the media were deliberately distracting people from more serious issues by fanning the pre-match frenzy. "How else can you explain the patriotic songs played on the radio and on TV before and after the match?" While he has always cheered a good game, Qotb insists what has happened in the past two weeks is not about football. Although he thought of watching the match in the stadium, in the end he decided not to go. "I am a sane person. I am not going to pay triple the price of the tickets on the black market to join a hysterical crowd. I want to watch the real game, not the show." Laila Zakaria, a 63-year-old retired teacher, watched the festivities in the street following the match from her balcony. Although she was appalled by the noise that kept her family from sleeping she felt sorry for the crowds below. "I thought about all these people feeding on football, people who have dreams they can't hope to achieve, and when I did I really hoped that Egypt would win to spare them yet another disappointment." photo: Abdel-Hamid Eid
