By: Ahmad Saied Ismaili's star midfielder Hosni Abd-Rabou had good reason to disobey manger Mark Wotte's instructions in the goalless draw with Ahli Bordj in the Arab Champions League (ACL). "Sorry coach, I am too exhausted to do this," Abd-Rabou told the Dutchman who asked him to play a deeper role behind the strikers in the second-half, according to assistant coach Ashraf Khedr. A quick look at Abd-Rabou's calendar in the third week of November would be enough to explain why the Egyptian international, who showed exemplary form in an entire season in the France Ligue 1, could hardly keep his feet on the ground. Abd-Rabou, alongside all Ismaili starters, featured in three competitive games in a span of eight days. They went through a cross-continental trip to Algeria to play Bordj to a goalless draw on November 19th and returned to beat Cement Suez 1-0 four days later in Ismailia, courtesy of a last-gasp header from Abd-Rabou, before playing the second leg against the Algerians on November 26th in Cairo! Ismaili were forced to take their chances in the shootout that they lost 5-3 and bowed out of their lone regional tournament of the season. "Ismaili were eliminated from the ACL because everybody stood against us and worked behind the scenes to get us where we are," Khedr told Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm. "The biased Egyptian Football Association is responsible for the elimination because it is not logical to play three matches in one week." Khedr's sentiments echoed the mainstream in the coastal city of Ismailia, whose citizens believe the capital sides, especially Ahli, enjoy full support of Egyptian football officials unlike Ismaili, who are considered Ahli's main rivals outside Cairo. African champions Ahli had four local league games postponed indefinitely during their Champions League campaign. More matches will be delayed for the Red Devils after they qualified for December's Club World Cup in Japan.
Ismaili skipper Mohamed Hommos Ismaili tried to follow the pattern, demanding to postpone the Suez game to avoid exhaustion before their Arab clash. But to the astonishment of officials and fans alike, the EFA refused and insisted Ismaili should play as scheduled. "The EFA treats Ismaili as if it is a foreign club. Even if it was a foreign side, they would have shown some cooperation," said Khaled Shabana on FilGoal.com forums. "They refused to postpone only one game because they don't consider the ACL a strong tournament. But if Ahli were playing in it, they would say it was the best ever," the 40-year-old fan added. This perspective is shared by the majority of Ismaili fans alongside their neighbors in canal cities of Port Saied and Suez, all of them believe that the government is biased to the powerful capital side. The three provinces are known of their hatred of Ahli, whose president and directors are prominent political and business figures in Egypt. They carried anti-Ahli banners and chanted angry slogans before the African Champions League finals against Sfaxien, wearing shirts and waving flags of the Tunisian side. Seeing yellow, green and blue flags, which represent the three cities respectively, in Zamalek's stands during the Cairo derby is a familiar scene as they consider the Men in White the only team capable of ending Ahli's supremacy. The EFA denied any favoritism and said delays were granted to Ahli because the importance of the tournament they were participating in. "The African Champions League is an internationally-recognized competition that qualifies to the Club World Cup," EFA spokesman Medhat Shalabi said in a televised interview. "On the other hand, the Arab Champions League can be considered a friendly tournament that doesn't qualify to any higher-level competitions." Yet, this very reason was Ismaili's evidence that the
