CAIRO: The National Sports Council (NSC) is organizing a public ceremony Friday at Cairo Stadium to honor Egypt's National Football Team for their African Cup victory, just as FIFA moved Egypt up 14 places in its monthly rankings to claim 10th place for the first time ever. The ceremony will feature a performance by Egyptian pop star Amr Diab and others and proceeds will be dedicated to the flood victims in Aswan and Sinai. Head of NSC Hassan Saqr, and Samir Zaher, president of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) announced the details of the ceremony in a press conference held at the NSC headquarters Wednesday. Tickets will be sold for LE 10 and shuttle busses will transport fans to Cairo from other governorates. The team will greet attendees from an open-air bus that will be moving inside the stadium. Egypt has won its third consecutive African title and seventh in its history at the African Cup of Nations held in Angola after beating Ghana 1-0 in the final game. The Pharaohs were the best movers within the top 50 nations, overtaking 10th place from Croatia. Otherwise, there was no change in the top 10 as European champions Spain remained on top with a significant margin ahead of Brazil. Nigeria, who finished third in Angola, also made significant progress as they moved up seven spots to number 15. Runners-up Ghana came in 27th place. Africa s other World Cup finalists Cameroon (20), Ivory Coast (22) and Algeria (31) have all declined after their unimpressive CAN campaigns. North African rivals Egypt and Algeria were the only Arab teams in the top 50 rankings. What the National Team achieved is more than an achievement; it is something that no other team in the world has or will do, Hazem Al-Hawary, board member of EFA told Daily News Egypt We are happy that we can play a social role with our achievements in helping the victims of the flood; however, no ceremonies are enough to give these players and their technical staff the credit they deserve, he added. Al-Hawary explained that this victory has brought balance and stability back to Egyptian football. "We have been subject to heavy criticism from some people and unfortunately, most of this criticism was unfounded, Al-Hawary said. We now are waiting for Coach Hassan Shehata to draw up his future plan and we will approve it without question. For now, we play a friendly against England on March 3, he said.
