The French educator           Pierre de Fredy, Baron de Coubertin founded the international Olympic committee (IOC) on 23 June, 1894, having been inspired to revive the games of the ancient Greeks.

The Egyptian Olympic Committee was established by Anglo Bolanaki on June 13, 1910 under the chairmanship of Prince Omar Tosson. Egypt became only the 14th country to join the International Olympic Committee.

This opened the way for the country’s participation in the fifth edition, the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, but just one athlete represented the nation; fencer Ahmed Hassanein.

Following World War 1, Egypt participated in earnest at the Antwerp Games in 1920 represented by a delegation of 20 athletes taking part in athletics, gymnastics, fencing, wrestling, weightlifting and football. It was a similar situation when the 1924 games were held in Paris. However, it was not until 1928 that Egyptians athletes were to return home victorious.

The Egyptian Olympic Committee has a quiet remarkable Olympic history as a leader on the continent of Africa and the Arab world. During its Olympic history, Egypt has won 24 Olympic Medals, seven gold, seven silver and 10 bronze.

Egypt’s finest hour came at the Berlin Games in 1936, when five medals were won, all in weightlifting.

The international weightlifting Federation had refused to recognize a new world record set by the legendary middleweight, Khadr El Touni in Egypt before the Olympics began, claiming that the weight he had snatched was a physical impossibility. However, when he repeated the performance witnessed by thousands of spectators, 75 kilo El Touni took the gold and entered the record books. He had lifted 387.5 kilos, an awesome 35 kilos more than Rudolf Ismayr of Germany who took the silver.

His unforgettable performance earned him an official plaque etched with his name, which hung outside the Berlin stadium. His record was held for 52 years until it was broken by the celebrated Naim Suleymanoglu of Turkey who holds the Guinness world Record for the most Olympic weightlifting gold medals won, three, from the Olympic Games 1988,
1992 and 1996.

On the occasion of the Centennial Anniversary, the Egyptian Olympic Committee will organise great celebrations at the Great Pyramids of Giza during the period 10 to 14 December, 2010 in the presence of Dr. Jacques Rogge, IOC President, the Members of the IOC Executive Board besides several Presidents of the Arab NOCs, the International Federations, the Continental Federations and Members of the ICMG Executive Board.

During the Centennial Celebration, Egypt NOC will honor all those still living for their contribution to the Olympic Games: The Egyptian Olympian Champions who won Olympic Medals, the ex-presidents of the Egyptian Olympic Committee, the IOC members from Egypt and the chefs de mission of the Egyptian delegations which participated at the Olympic, African, Arab and Mediterranean Games. Egypt’s NOC will publish an illustrated Encyclopaedia titled “Egyptian Olympic Committee during 100 years”
and will make a documentary with the same title.

EGYPTAIR is going to launch mobile and  internet services onboard the newest fleet of the Airbus 330-300. The first aircraft of this fleet will be delivered during the last week of August. The Airbus 330-300 provides many modern technologies such as wireless internet and personal mobile usage on board, besides using the GSM, SMS and GPRS services. The passengers flying onboard the new A330-300 will be able to make phone calls through their mobile phones with the same international call rates of their service providers, in addition to the ability to send SMS and using the mobile internet services. Moreover, the customers will enjoy using the WI-FI service throughout their flight.

This new A330-300 accommodates 301   seats, of which 36 in business class and 265 in economy class. Business class customers will enjoy comfort of sleep on their Lay Flat Beds, or they will indulge themselves in hundreds of entertainment options with personal entertainment system screened on the 15.4” LCDs and recharge their personal devices while relaxing on their seats. Further, EGYPTAIR’s newest A330-300 economy class seats provide wider and more relaxing seats with personal entertainment system to enable the customers and their families selecting from the best entertainment programs. They can also recharge their personal devices in their seats.
Captain Alaa Ashour, Chairman and CEO of EGYPTAIR Airlines stated that “we are keen on the continuous development and upgrading of our services. These new services will enable our customers to keep in touch with their businesses, families and friends throughout the flight.”

Egyptair recognises travel agents
Egyptair held a gala dinner at the Fairmont Towers honouring its partners in
success, thanking all travel agents for their great cooperation and contributions.

Under the Presidency of Amar Addadi, the Evaluation Commission of the Mediterranean Games in 2017, composed of the General Souhail Khoury, President, Nour El-Houda Karfoul and Dominique Petit and Sophie Metais,members held a meeting in Paris on 5th July 2010. Tullio Paratore, also a member of the commission, was not able to attend the meeting , The commission, after having ascertained that the five candidature files for the organisation of the 2017 Mediterranean Games, Alexandria (EGY),
Mersin (TUR), Rijeka (CRO), Tarragona (ESP) and Tripoli (LBA) were all received within the set deadline, heard the recommendations of the International Mediterranean Games Committee (ICMG), President regarding the nature of their mission, as well as the principles and values that the International Mediterranean Games Committee (ICMG), must preserve for the forthcoming Mediterranean Games editions. The commission fixed the calendar of visits that to be proposed to the candidate cities, which will spread out between the 3rd week of September 2010 and the 1st week of January 2011.

It is to be remembered that the report of the evaluation commission will have to be written and presented to the Executive Committee members in March 2011, before its distribution at the beginning of April to the ICMG General Assembly members, who will select the host city during the June 2011 session.

International and national athletic events can affect sustainable development in the areas where they take place. The bidding committee of the Mediterranean Games of Alexandria 2017 must utilize such event to consider the environmental concerns as an organizational priority and as the central operational principle for complete and perfectly organized Mediterranean Games in Alexandria.

It has been a long time since the foundations of regional Sustainable
Development were established. The main characteristic of sustainable development is the promotion of perpetual life, and the main priority is the assurance of quality of life in all areas: environment, economy, culture, etc., for all people and forever.

Today, Sustainable Development as an objective resolving around four pillars or sectors: Social sector, Environmental sector, Economic sector and Cultural sector. These sectors affect and shape the conditions of sustainability of a city because their interactions determine the viability of Sustainable Development. In summary; sustainable development is to deal with improvement of living conditions of people.

In the context among other things, the design of the future is based on
the active participation of citizens and other authorities. Their participation in democratic processes of co-decision allows them to learn about the causes, nature and consequences of problems and solutions.

The analysis of the internal environment of the city of Alexandria , taking advantage of the strengths and weaknesses and the assessment of external environment, show that there are large areas of intervention, major objectives to which the city should focus its efforts in order to achieve its development objectives. These objectives relate to the quality of life, education and research, the environment, social cohesion, tourism, industry and regional integration, culture and generally all those elements which it constitutes the broader term of Sustainable Development. Some
of these objectives are:
• Strengthening the quality of life, infrastructure, environmental, aesthetic
and the identity of the city.
• Enhancing the quality of human resources.

and a strong scientific – research Development pole with the University of Alexandria and the other private universities.
• Social cohesion and protect endangered human resources.
• Development of tourism of the city and the possibilities   
of leisure with exploiting the opportunities offered
by the history, mythology, culture, the Universities , conferences, sport and the natural environment of the wider region.
• Strengthening of industrial identity of the city and the development of activities with emphasis on knowledge,   innovation, quality and extraversion utilization.
• Use of the potential economic integration at local and regional level.
• Natural resources protection.
• Protection and awareness of all to the environment Alexandria governorate must consider a series of projects and infrastructure for a sound and successful organization of 2017.

All this will be an important legacy for the city of Alexandria and Egypt in general, and will play a decisive role in sports, tourism, social and investment development of Alexandria. For this reason local actors in the region in cooperation with the competent ministries and corporate, should work together to provide the legacy of the Mediterranean games through Sustainable Development for the city of Alexandria.

President of the Egyptian Olympic Committee and President of the Egyptian Basketball Federation

General Aly, How do you evaluate the idea of the Youth Olympic Games, (YOG)?
In Moscow in 1997 there was a gathering of the International Olympic Committee, (IOC) where the subject was Youth. Since then the idea of establishing a Youth Olympics grew. Because the Youth represent the future, they must be prepared. If there is a Youth Olympics the performance of athletes in the regular Olympics will improve because of their preparation
and experience in the Youth Olympics so the IOC decided to hold a youth Olympics. This experience is enhanced because all of the participants in the YOG; athletes, referees, judges, coaches, trainers and other officials must stay at the site for the entire period of the games to live the whole experience and absorb the value of sports in general and the Olympic spirit in particular.

At first the IOC thought that medals should not be awarded during the YOG but in the end they changed their minds and medals will be awarded so that the feeling of victory is complete both for the individual athlete and for the country they represent. I think the YOG is a very good step and a positive movement in the history of sports.

Can you tell us about the Egyptian delegation to the YOG; how big is it compared to other participating countries and what your expectations are for the results?
The Egyptian delegation is one of the biggest delegations participating. They are definitely the biggest from the Arab countries and probably Africa
as well. It consists of 42 male and 32 female athletes who will compete in 17 different sports. In addition there are 11 officials and managers. The head of the delegation is Dr. Alaa Gabr who is also the head of the Egyptian Archery Federation. The vice chairman is Dr. Mona Abdel Kareem who is a member of the Egyptian Olympic Committee and a former athlete.

Egypt only participated in 14 sports during the recent AfricanYouthGamesin Morocco, which was good preparation for those 14 teams before the YOG. In those game Egypt won 30 gold, 18 silver and six bronze medals In the YOG I expect at least five medals in different sports because I have great expectation for our athletes in sports like weightlifting, wrestling and the martial arts. The results during the qualifications give me confidence that they will do well in the YOG. It is very interesting that in the age group that is eligible for the YOG, under 18 years old, Egyptian athletes always do well in international competitions. But, when they pass 18, in some sports the results are not as good. This may be because after 18 they are either in University where they do not have enough time in the midst of their studies or after university they have to work hard to earn a good living and do not have the luxury of time to participate in sports.

Was it a difficult decision to go to Singapore with such a big delegation and having expectation of only five medals?
Not at all. There is a difference between the Youth Games and the main Olympics. The protocols of the IOC and sports in general say that the young have to participate to get the experience and Egypt wants to be in the lead, to be a role model for other nations in the region. We have to send our boys and girls to gain experience and learn Olympic values and we must support them. It is very difficult for an athlete to become an Olympic champion suddenly or in his first participation. This is the first Youth Olympics and there are more than 200 countries taking part. Of course, all these 200 countries are not expecting to come home with medals but they are encouraging their young athletes to take part to be there for the experience.
This will be very good preparation for the youth, not necessarily for the 2012 Olympics in London but these Youth Games will be a real preparation for the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

We are taking all the athletes that qualified regardless of expectations of medals which was not an easy decision to make either, but with the understanding and support of Eng. Hassan Sakr, Head of the National Sports Council, who is a former competitive athlete himself and understands the situation. If we don’t participate as fully as we can we will go backwards and other nations will pass us because we will not gain the experience necessary to help our athletes to perform better next time.

You spoke before about the athletes losing some of their skills when they go to university because they don’t have the time to keep them at top level. What happened to the protocol between the Ministry for Sport and the Ministry of Education that was supposed to provide sports championships that are attending university time to train and attend camps and competitions and to have exams that conflict with major events to be taken at another time? There is actually more than one protocol, but the problem is that the effectiveness of the protocols gets lost when you have had many changes in the government at the ministerial level and the level of the senior department heads in this ministries and the incoming minister or department head does not necessarily agree with what his predecessor had done so the athlete suffers while they go back to the beginning. This is also true in the universities as well. Different deans and head of colleges can have different interpretations of what the protocol requires. The Olympic committee along with Eng. Sakr are making every effort to make the protocol effective and to work on improving it with the Ministry of Education.

When you became head of the Egyptian Olympic Committee almost one year ago, we read and heard from the Egyptian sports media some quotes from you that some people considered negative. You were reported as saying that you are not expecting any medals for Egypt in the 2012 Olympics in London. What are your comments regarding that situation?
I did not say that at the time. What I did say was that I cannot tell what Egypt will do. After I had been appointed and was new in the job, journalists started asking how Egypt will do at the Olympics. With only a few weeks as Chairman, I had not had the time to research the statistics, what each athlete in each sport had achieved, how well was he or she qualified, how
did they perform and in what level of competition. Whether the athlete has won on the regional or continental level is not the same as winning a world championship or a major international event like the Olympics. There is a huge difference. I did not have that kind of information at that date and even now I could not give a good answer because I don’t know who will qualify. The media can ask but I will not give a quick answer without the facts.

Do you feel that if you make promises about good results and they don’t happen that it will hurt the committee or cause problems for it?
No, not at all. What will happen? Our responsibility is just supervising the federations and making sure that; they meet standards, are spending money in the right way, that training is done properly and achieves the technical requirements. We must give the federations whatever support they require. We are not involved in the federations’ business. The technical part of preparing the athletes for competition is pure federation business. We don’t interfere in their business so how can people say at the end that the committee failed or succeeded? You have to remember that when an athlete wins a medal, it is the result of more than ten years of hard effort on the part of the federation. It does not come from a year or two of good planning. It is long term preparation and hard work and the responsibility of each federation.

The process actually starts with the sports clubs. Here the athlete starts at a young age learning his or her sport and works to make the club team. Then they compete in leagues or at government tournaments
and where the federations can sport high performing athletes and start grooming them for the national teams by elevating level of their training and entering them higher levels of competition. This all happens away from the Olympic Committee.

General Aly, are the responsibilities of the Olympic committees the same all over the world, or is Egypt a different case?
It is the same all over the world. You go anywhere and you will find that the Olympic Committee is responsible for supervision, support and controlling the funding without interfering in the technical details. We follow up to make sure the federation’s planning is realistic and that they are following the plan and the funding is correct in cooperation with the National Sports Council.
There are differences in other areas around the world in the system but not in the Olympic Committee responsibility. In countries like the US, China and even some European countries, they do not have clubs like they do in Egypt. They have a system where the young children start to play sports in primary school. Here he starts to discover his skills and where he can fit. When
he goes to high school he continues to improve and if he is good enough he participates in school leagues. In university the process continues and he plays in inter university leagues. After university if he has the skill he
can turn professional. At any point along the system the federations can recognise his skills and bring the athlete into the national teams.

Can you tell us what the budget is for the preparation of the 17 sports teams that will represent Egypt in the first YOG in Singapore?
It is five million Egyptian Pounds.

Since this is your first interview with Sports & Fitness magazine since you assumed the post of President of the Olympic Committee General Aly, I would like to take this opportunity to talk about subjects away from the YOG. Let’s talk about the Mediterranean Games. Egypt participated in the bidding to host the Mediterranean Games for the year 2017. Can you give us a hint about the Egyptian file and tell me how happy you are with the bid?   We presented a very good file it is very strong. The bid book itself was prepared by a German Company that specialises in this field. I personally believe that these games should come back to Egypt because Egypt is the producer of the games. They were originally proposed by Mohamed Taher Pasha and the first Mediterranean tournament was held in Alexandria, Egypt in 1951 and it has not come back to Egypt for 66 years so now it is about time. Especially when you consider that there was a sort of agreement that the games would be hosted for two consecutive tournaments by countries on the North shore of the Mediterranean in Europe and then one on the southern shore before it goes back to Europe. The last two Games were held in Europe, in Almeria, Spain and Pescara, Italy. The 2013 games will be in Volos and Larissa, Greece. And for 2017 the only bids from the south came from Egypt and Libya. I think Egypt’s strong background in sports will allow it to win the bid to host the Games.

General Aly, are we ready to host such an event?
Yes, of course. Almost 70 percent of the required facilities, halls stadia and other infrastructure are already there in Alexandria. The military has already started to build a complete Olympic complex with six big arenas for different sports just 30 kilometres from the heart of Alexandria which is considered a very good location for transportation and communications.
There are already good football stadia, the Borg El Arab stadium and the Alexandria stadium which are built to international standards. The Olympic
committee will be visiting Alexandria in September to inspect progress.

Let me also ask you about the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Egyptian Olympic Committee. It was founded in 1910 and in 1912 it joined the International Olympic Committee. How do you plan to celebrate this anniversary?
We are going to have a big celebration at the end of this year. We have already invited all of the members of the Executive Board of the Olympic Committee and of course Dr. Jacques Rogge, the President of the IOC will be here. We also invited many international sports figures and champions. During the celebration we will honour the Egyptian Olympians who have won medals in past games. We have seven gold medal winners, seven silver medal winners and 10 bronze. Some of them have passed away but we will still honour them through family members that are living and we will also honour past Presidents of the Egyptian Olympic Committee starting from Prince Omar Tosson, the first president of the Egyptian Olympic Committee through General Mounir Sabet the ex- president. We are working hard to have an exciting and interesting event that will always bring fond memories.

Northern Ireland’s world number seven Rory McIlroy will be the star attraction when the European Challenge Tour stages its first official event in Cairo with the 2010 Egyptian Open at the JW Marriott, Mirage City Golf Club from 20th through 23rd October.

Tournament officials today confirmed the 21 yearold superstar, tipped by many as a future world number one – will join the cream of the European Challenge Tour at the penultimate event of the season. For McIlroy it will mean a short break from the European Tour just weeks after his expected debut in The Ryder Cup and a month prior to the end of the Race To Dubai. “To have one of the world’s best players agree to join us for the 2010 tournament is a wonderful bonus after achieving full European Challenge Tour status,” said Egyptian Golf Federation Chairman Ayman Hussein.

“Having Rory McIlroy with us will help focus attention on Egypt, a country we firmly believe has a bright golfing future to match its reputation as the original home of the game in the Middle East. I am sure he will be guaranteed a warm welcome not only from Egyptian golf fans but also from the players of the European Challenge Tour.

Although this will be McIlroy’s first playing appearance in Egypt, the man from Hollywood, Northern Ireland is no stranger to the region having picked up his first European Tour title at the Dubai Desert Classic in 2009 before finishing the year as runner-up at the inaugural Dubai World Championship.

“I’m very excited about the chance of playing in Egypt for the first time,” said McIlroy. “It’s not a country you would think about as a home for golf but I have heard about the courses there, the history of the Egyptian Open and the developments that are coming online. I can’t wait to see it for
myself.”

McIlroy made a good start to 2010 finishing third at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, while in Dubai he ended up in a tie for fifth place just twelve months after clinching his maiden tour title in the emirate.

Despite a niggling back problem and some time off the course, he bounced back in sensational style recording his first PGA Tour win with a final round course record 62 at the Quail Hollow Championship – with it he became the first player since Tiger Woods to win a PGA Tour event prior to his 21st birthday.

In Cairo, McIlroy will join around 80 players from the European Challenge Tour as well as a selection of local and regional invites and qualifiers. In 2009, the event, while not part of the official European Challenge Tour calendar at the time, attracted an impressive field complemented by a guest appearance by European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie.

“Last year’s event was very impressive for a first attempt and we expect the 2010 Egyptian Open to take the tournament to even greater heights both in terms of infrastructure and quality of play,” said Nick Tarratt, Director, The European Tour International, Dubai Office.

“Its position as an end-of-season event means it will command a strong field, while the appearance of one of the world’s most exciting players in Rory McIlroy underlines the massive steps taken by the Egyptian Golf Federation in putting golf in Egypt on the world map.”

Issa Abou El Ela, Egypt’s top junior golfer, finishes 9th in the Silver category at the 2010 Junior British Open Issa Abou El Ela completed an outstanding season by finishing 9th in the Silver category of

the 2010 Junior British Open. The 16 year old, now playing off 5 handicap, has won a number of juniors events this year including the Egyptian Junior Open back in May. Abou El Ela, improved on his opening score by 3 shots, scoring an 80 on a tough day for scoring around the much respected Championship course of Lundin Links on a day that produces strong winds and some rain fall at times.

The National Team has been announced for the 2010 World Amateur Team Championship to take place in Argentina…
alternate has been named as Abdel Monem ElNational Team Manager Ghassan Kabbani and National Coach Anne Le Coniat have announced the team to compete for Egypt in the 2010 World Amateur Team Championship to take place in Argentina from October 23rd to 30th 2010. The team of three competing for the Eisenhower Trophy will be Taymour Abou El Khier ( Katameya Heights), Issa Abou El Ela ( Alexandria Sporting Club) and Mike Adly (Katameya Heights). The first alternate has been named as Abdel Monem El Shafei ( Gezira Sporting Club).

“Taymour and Mike had outstanding seasons, with Taymour winning the EGF Order of Merit and Mike securing his first Open win and performing well over the season. Issa is clearly one of our outstanding junior talents for the future and the experience he will gain from competing this year will make a him a real competitor in 2012. The team will prepare for the event with the 54 Hole Egyptian Amateur Open and with a structured coaching program with the National Coach prior to departure. They will travel to the Championships with Team Manager Ghassan Kabbani and National Coach Anne Le Coniat. Le Coniat with a wealth of experience with the French National Team at the WATC expects the team to perform well and the goal for the team is to reach the top 30.

Mohamed El Afifi, Farid Saad, Hide Nishihira and Heba De Maurissiens take the honors in the Red Sea Open.
Hide Nishihira of Japan became the 2010 Red Sea Ladies Open Champion this weekend with rounds of 86 and 90 for a tournament winning total of 176
to beat Maha El Sennousi by 7 strokes who shot 90 and 93. Third place went to fellow Dreamland member Nagwa Kamy, who managed rounds of 93 and 92 for a tournament total of 185. Tournament host, Dr Farid Saad, enjoyed a
convincing victory in the super senior category with superb stableford rounds of 32 and 35 for a 65 points total and victory over Roger Dally in 2nd and Mike Triggs in 3rd. Mohamed El Affifi won the senior category with
a 66 point total.Runner up was Jasper Hulse with Kohn Laing in third.

]]> http://www.sports-mag.com/?feed=rss2&p=205 http://www.sports-mag.com/?p=213 http://www.sports-mag.com/?p=213#comments Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:48:24 +0000 admin http://www.sports-mag.com/?p=213 Eng, Hassan Sakr the President of the National Sports Council (NSC) is not only the highest governmental functionary in the field of sports he is also known for his bold, brave and decisive actions and his hopes for the future of the sports sector in Egypt. Sports & Fitness magazine was keen to conduct an in-depth interview with him in such an important issue to explore his thoughts.

Tell us first about the involvement of the NSC in the preparation of the Egyptian teams which will participate in the Youth Olympic Games, (YOG)?
We are giving the YOG our full attention and we care, not only because at the end these are Olympic Games, but also because the young people who will participate in such an international and high level of competition will gain great experience and they will be good potential champions in the main Olympic Games afterwards. Several months ago we established a joint technical and supervisory committee between the NSC and the Egyptian Olympic Committee (EOC) to arrange the procedures of preparation of the teams, the required funding and to make sure that all qualified athletes
and their federation meeting were the standards and regulations of the organising committee of the YOG especially as this is the first time these games to be contested and they have different standards and regulations. We were also involved in authorising the necessary preparation plans and funds for the different teams and athletes.

What are your expectations in terms of medals achievement?
A few weeks ago, most of the Egyptian teams participated in the African Sports Games which was organized by the ANOCA in Morocco where
Egypt came in second place which is considered a good sign. Also considering the fact that youth and junior Egyptian athletes in general achieve good international results I would expect good result in the YOG.

Do you agree with me that young Egyptian  
athletes lose their chances of improving their international level when they grow up and enter college?
To a certain extent, yes: The main reason is that after finishing high school they have to study hard in college
to guarantee a good career but the real problems start when they graduate from college especially when they need to devote their time to work and to earn money to marry and live.

What is the NSC doing to help those athletes to overcome such problems?
We are working, hard side by side with the Ministry of Education and we are lucky to have an active and supportive Minster of Education such as Dr.
Hany Helal who is also the president of the University Sports Union, we are working to activate the university championships and its increase its level of competition more.
To encourage the athletes to keep practicing sport during their college years next year we will start a new sports scholarship programme which give the college students who are champions in sport a monthly payment of LE500 as long as he or she is still winning and maintaining a high level. We are not doing only that and still leaving them to face a conflict of exams and
how to arrange their time. We established a protocol together with the Ministry of Education years ago to give students who are participating with the national teams either in camp training or in an international tournament the ability to change or postpone his or her exams without losing any rights and opportunities.

I would like to use this opportunity to ask you about the Egyptian Bid to host the 2017 Mediterranean Games in the city of Alexandria. How was this idea established and how happy you are with the presented file and representation?
Almost two years ago when President Mubarak was opening the newly built Borg El Arab Stadium just few kilometres away from Alexandria, the Minister of Defence was confirming to the President and to the Prime Minster that the Armed Forces will continue and build a complete Olympic complex built to the latest international standards and that Borg El Arab stadium is just the seed to start this complex. At that time the Egyptian Olympic Committee showed an interest in hosting the Mediterranean games so I offered the prime minister the idea of entering the bid for the 2017 Mediterranean games and he suggested it to the President who always supports sports, and the idea went through.

Regarding the evaluation of Egypt Bid file; we chose one of the best companies in the world which is specialized in such missions, a German company who did the file for South Africa for their 2010 bid and also did the file for Sydney Olympic games. They are very experienced. They worked hard for several months to produce the file in an excellent shape.

Who is financing the cost of the bid?
As this event in the long run will benefit the tourism industry, the Ministry of Tourism is covering the bid cost.

Can you tell us about the executive committee of the bid?
We have Dr. Abdel Karim Darwish who is a well known public figure as well as a well known sports figure. He is one of the former presidents of the Egyptian Olympic Committee and has a wide range of experience and
contacts. We have Dr.Zahi Hawas, the President of the Supreme Council of Antiquities at the Ministry of Culture who also enjoys excellent contacts and is a well known representative of Egypt and its great history and culture. This in addition to well respected sports figures such as Ismael El Shafie who is a well known former tennis champion and a former president of the tennis federation and we have the Olympic judo champion, Mohamed Rashwan and we have Omar Samra, the only Egyptian ever who climbed Mount Everest.
It is also important to mention that the bid committee’s technical consultant is General Mounier Sabet who is a former president of the Egyptian Olympic Committee and a member of the International Olympic Committee and most importantly he is the vice president of the Mediterranean games committee.

In your opinion what are the main strong points of the Egyptian bid?
First, Alexandria is a city that already has a great reputation and a well known history in the world in general and in the Mediterranean in particular. Second, the games started in Alexandria in 1951 and after so many years it somehow still has strong links and roots. Third, the idea of not only counting on the existing facilities in the city but rather building a whole
new Olympic complex with new halls and courts is deserving of attention.

Forth, the hotel capacity now in Alexandria is 4800 rooms and what is required for the officials, guests and media is 3500 rooms. This is in addition to the fact that more than 65 percent of the required infrastructure
is already in place. Fifth, Egypt has many good and qualified people in the field of sports who gained their skill and experience with many years of hard work on the regional and international level considering the fact that Egypt successfully hosted many big regional and international sports tournaments and events. During the latest FIFA World Cup in South Africa, FIFA president Joseph Blatter several times expressed his admiration of Egyptian facilities and its organizing level.

Last but not least, we have the full support of the government of Egypt and all its ministries to make these games really remarkable and a truly successful.

]]> http://www.sports-mag.com/?feed=rss2&p=213 http://www.sports-mag.com/?p=226 http://www.sports-mag.com/?p=226#comments Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:47:08 +0000 admin http://www.sports-mag.com/?p=226

Team orders returned to the top of the agenda in Formula One on 25 July as Spain’s Fernando Alonso took the chequered flag in the German Grand Prix thanks to his team mate Felipe Massa letting him through in the closing stages, despite leading the race from the start. It is a tough moment for Massa which will do nothing to help his motivation in this gruelling sport.

Although the message was coded it was unmistakeably a team order which is banned in F1. It was Alonso’s second win of the season. The first came in Bahrain when Alonso passed his team mate at the start, fair and square. Unlike in his McLaren days, Alonso has the clout within the team to subjugate his team mate.

The one - two finish for Ferrari was the first since the opening race in Bahrain on 14 March. But it heats up the championship, with the two Red Bull drivers now tied on points and now 21 points behind Lewis Hamilton, with Alonso back in the race for title.

At the start of the German Prix, Sebastian Vettel was so concerned about Alonso coming down the inside that he forgot about Felipe Massa down the outside. The Brazilian flew into the lead and Alonso tucked in behind in second place. Vettel was forced to accept third place, while Webber was passed by Hamilton for fourth place. Further back Michael Schumacher made a great start from 11th to 8th and the two Toro Rosso cars hit each other Buemi losing his rear wing.

Ferrari was delighted with a one- two at this stage, but the wrong car was in the lead as Massa is well behind Alonso in the drivers’ championship.
The super soft tyres held up pretty well and Vettel was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 14, as the lap times were coming down impressively. Alonso and Webber pitted a lap later, with Webber rejoining in traffic and losing ground.

Massa pitted on lap 16 and rejoined ahead of Alonso, but as we have seen all season he was not as happy on the hard tyre as on the soft and he locked up consistently, but Alonso did not attack for a while.

There was great battle between Schumacher and Kubica after the Pole’s pit stop, but he held his nerve and fought off the great champion.

Alonso soon closed up and was in a position to attack on lap 23, but Massa resisted. Alonso came on the radio to say “This is ridiculous.”
Button pitted late, lap 24 and he got out ahead of Mark Webber. Nico Rosberg also used the tactic of stopping a lap later and he jumped his team mate Michael Schumacher for 8th.
Massa started pulling away from Alonso and Vettel, the gap was out to 3.5 seconds by lap 28. Alonso clawed it back slowly, and by lap 35 it was down to 2 seconds, down to 1 second on lap 40. Meanwhile McLaren told Lewis Hamilton to go on a fuel saving mode in fourth place and Mark Webber was instructed to nurse the car to the finish and not challenging Button for 5th place.
On lap 50 a very reluctant sounding Rob Smedley came on the radio to tell Massa, “Fernando is faster than you,” which is code for “Let Alonso through.” He later came on and said “Sorry” to Massa, showing how hard it had been to deliver that message. Massa obeyed and the Spaniard duly swept past to take the win. But after the race it was announced that the FIA World Motor Sport Council is to be called in to decide whether Ferrari should face further sanctions for the team orders controversy at the German Grand Prix, after the team was fined $100,000 for flouting the team orders rule. It should be remembered that the rule was brought in because of a Ferrari team order in 2002.

The notorious incident was at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix where Rubens Barrichello was ordered to allow Ferrari team mate Michael Schumacher to pass at in order to obtain the win. This received much negative attention from spectators and media, as the order was issued shortly before both drivers crossed the finish line, and as Barrichello had virtually dominated the entire qualifying sessions and the race itself. At the United States Grand Prix that year, there was further controversy as the Ferrari drivers allegedly manipulated the race result by switching positions in the final few metres of the race, giving Barrichello the win by the record smallest margin of 0.011 seconds.
Though Schumacher had largely dominated the US Grand Prix, some suggested that he was returning the favour to Barrichello for forfeiting the Austrian win.

Subsequently after the 2002 season, “Team Orders that could influence the outcome of a race” were banned in F1 regulations, although they are sometimes still implemented discreetly. For example, this has sometimes been achieved as easily as a team getting on the radio to the slower driver and pointing out that his team mate is quicker. The slower driver then lets the quicker driver through without the need for an overt “directive” from the team.
However a few years later at the 2005 United States Grand Prix, Schumacher was being challenged for the lead by Barrichello but the two were ordered to preserve their cars to the end of the race and settle into a steady pace. This effectively meant that Barrichello wasn’t able to challenge
Schumacher and assured Schumacher’s and Ferrari’s only victory of the season. But whether this was favouritism towards Schumacher or just a cautious approach to an easy victory is debatable.

Since 1995, Stephane Le Bail has been inthe opening car for 40 cross country rallies,among the FIA World Cup, the Transoriental Rally (Saint Petersburg – Beijing in 2008) and thelast two editions of the Dakar Argentina – Chile.The reconnaissance and road book creation of21 of these races have been made by him. This year, Le Bail puts all his knowledge and experiencein service of the Pharaons Rally for the first time, to promise that the 2010 edition will be even better.This year the Pharaons Rally is back in the FIA WorldCup as the last leg of the season, and JVD decided to call the French expert on road book creation,Stephane Le Bail, to assure everybody will stay on the right tracks, see the most beautiful landscapes in Pharaoh´s land and follow a faultless road book next October.

The reconnaissance of the route was carried out last May. “I was amazed by all the means JVD employs to carry out the reconnaissance, they way Daniele Cotto (JVD Director) knows the terrain like his backyard, and the hospitality of Egyptians is just sensational,” said Le Bail. For this 13th edition of the Pharaons Rally all stages have been renewed. The 2600 km will start from the Giza Pyramids, and they will be divided into six stages
to finish on the North Coast of Egypt, at El Alamein. The promise is huge, so we asked the expert about what competitors can expect from the race. “The Pharaons Rally is mythical; it offers the most beautiful dunes in Egypt, lots of sand, it´s difficult, it´s fast, it has lots of navigation and different landscapes to discover every day,” explains Stéphane Le Bail.

But not everything is about fun in his job. _“The most important thing while doing a road book is to find the right balance between pleasure and safety. Every note on the road book must be accurate and all possible dangers must be indicated clearly to avoid accidents. A great part of the safety of the rally relies on the road book, so it is an enormous responsibility.”

As the race is part of the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup, Le Bail is also in charge of the FIA opening car during the race: “We take the race track with the road book as any other competitor, without other instruments to help us, just like competitors on the race track. We follow the road book at a speed average close to private cars’ to test what is on the paper before competitors go through it, and if there is a danger to mark, we inform the organizer so all crews will be noticed. Safety stays as the most important value of our job,” states Le Bail.

Beautiful stages will be unveiled by the competitors of the Pharaons Rally 2010. Sand, dunes beautiful landscapes and the well known hospitality of JVD will be at the appointment, so we asked the road book´s creator an advice to all riders and crews before the start: “When you are off road, please follow your bearing to avoid surprises on fast roads. See you in Egypt on October 4th, at the start of the Pharaons Rally!”

Under the sponsorship  of AlexBank, the newest Egyptian Rally team Rahhala Racing was launched, with an aim to compete for the Egyptian Rally Championship 2010, which started with the last Egypt Cup Rally 2010, and with two more rallies to go, the international Pharaons Rally 2010 and the Egypt Desert Challenge 2010.

The team is composed of two buggies “T1 Category” the first of which is driven by Hani Omar and his copilot Akram Al Sharif, and the second is driven by Tarek El Erian and his co-pilot Mohamed Aly. The team is eager to win this year’s Egyptian Rally championship, especially after the good results it achieved in its previous competitions. The strong technical and administrative team members behind Rahhala Racing support it in achieving the best possible results.

Hani Omar achieved historical events, unprecedented for any Egyptian team throughout the history of the Pharoans Rally; he succeeded in being the overall leader at one point of the Pharaons Rally 2009, after he won the first stage of the Rally with the support of his Co-Pilot Tamer El Bahay. Hani Omar also won the Egyptian Rally Cup 2009 as Co-Pilot, and completed the Egypt Desert Challenge 2009 in a top ten position. He and Akram Al Sherif, with a standard Jeep Wrangler, won their standard “T2 Category” and came in third position overall in the Rally Cup Egypt 2010, thus overtaking a big number of teams that drive modified cars with much higher capabilities.

As for Tarek El Erian, he participated in Egypt Rally Cup last year, and achieved second place for standard cars and third place in his category in the Egypt Desert Challenge. His participation in the Pharaons Rally was his first and he was the youngest participant; he succeeded in achieving third place in the diesel category and seventh in the overall ranking.

His Co-Pilot, Mohamed Aly, also accomplished an international achievement with Karim El Zanaty, realizing third place in the diesel category in Africa Race 2010.

The team is preparing to participate in the International Pharaons Rally 2010, which is the fourth and last round of the World Rally Championship, and the second round of the Egyptian Rally Championship, which will take place between 2 and 10 October, and finally the Egypt Desert Challenge during November 2010.

Rahhala Racing does not only participate in rallies, but the team also plays a vital and important social role in creating safety awareness on the road, through gatherings and seminars in schools, universities and clubs, and to spread awareness amongst students and encourage them to driving safely and to refrain from participating in haphazard races on the streets, which endanger the lives of citizens and people on the street.

The team, to display their Rally cars which they will participate with the upcoming international Pharaons Rally in Marina, North Coast (Americana Promenade, Gate 5) from 22 to 31 July, and next to the Diplomatic Village No. 3, North Coast (Americana Project) from 1 to 8 August of this year, Rahhala Rally team enjoys the sponsorship of AlexBank, which supports the team though its program “Turbo Car Loan” for car purchase in installments.

InterContinental Hotels Group Port Ghalib Resortwon
four categories in the “Oscar” of the travel industry. InterContinental The Palace Port Ghalib Resort for Egypt’s Leading Meetings & Conference Hotel, and Egypt’s Leading Spa Resort. Crowne Plaza Sahara Oasis Port Ghalib Resort for Egypt’s Leading Family Resort and Crowne Plaza Sahara Sands Port Ghalib Resort for Egypt’s Leading Honeymoon Resort. This year, an astounding 183,000 industry professionals participated in the voting process.

Nile TV at Coral Sea Holiday Village

On the spectacular sunny beaches of the Red Sea,
Coral Sea Holiday Village Resort Sharm El Sheikh recently hosted Nile TV channel crew during the making of  “R.S.V.P.”; an entertainment program introducing the variety of leisure options provided by Coral Sea Holiday Village resort to its customers. Nile TV is the first Arab satellite channel to broadcast its programs in foreign languages.

Promotions at Coral Sea

Within the framework of supporting the advancement
of its team members, Abdel Meguid El Labban, Director of Operations and Regional General Manager of Coral Sea Hotels – Resorts – Nile Cruises, announced the promotion of Tarek Alaa to the position of Regional Director of Human Resources. The promotion of Tarek came as a result of his dedication and consistent efforts. Tarek joined Coral Sea Hotels – Resorts – Nile Cruises in 2007 with a total of 21 years of experience working in major hotel chains such as Sheraton and Ritz Carlton.

Steigenberger Al Dau Beach Hotel is the first wellness hotel in Egypt to be certified by TÜV

The deluxe Steigenberger Al Dau Beach Hotel on the
Red Sea is the first wellness hotel in Egypt and the first
one outside of Europe to be awarded the Best Health International certificate for quality in spa and wellness tourism. This followed an independent inspection of the 5-star hotel by TÜV Rheinland auditors. Since the beginning of 2009, establishments can arrange to be certified by TÜV Rheinland to the Best Health International standard. This quality standard encompasses more than 130 inspection criteria covering a wide range of different areas that can be hard for guests themselves to ascertain or judge. Such areas include the training and professional development of therapists, the use of food from the region, hygiene as well as promises made regarding the effectiveness of the therapies and applications.

Hurghada Marriott’s culinary team Hip, Hip
Hurray!!

Executive Chef Essam Sayed and the culinary team
of Hurghada Marriott Red Sea Resort were awarded with the Egyptian Chefs Association (ECA) Culinary trophy 2010 after winning the 1st place in the teams’ competition at the recent National Salon Culinaire. The participating team consisted of Executive Chef Essam Sayed, Chef Mohamed Abdullah , 1st Commis, Chef Ahmed Said and 1st Commis and Pastry Chef Mohsen Amin, who all stunned the audience and guests with their sumptuous creations and talent, under the scrutinizing eyes of the international guest jury members.

Alba institution leading public and community institution in the Arab World

The Alexandria based Alba Charity organization
was chosen as the best of its kind the Arab World in the development and voluntary sector. Dr. Ali Alba received the award during the opening of the sixth Arab League Conference which was held in the headquarter of the organization under the auspice of Mr. Amr Mousa
the Secretary General of the Arab league and in the presence of H.E . Ahmed Maher , the previous Minister
of foreign affairs and Mr. Yousef El Kazem General Secretary of the Arab Union for Charitable Institutions.
Dr. Ali Alba in his speech , emphasized that his Charity institution will continue its essential and vital role to provide the aid and the humanitarian supports and assistance.

Yousry Ali appointed new General Manager at the Radisson BLU Hotel, Alexandria

Marko Hytonen the Area Vice President for the Rezidor Hotel Group, Middle East had the pleasure of announcing the appointment of Mr. Yousry Ali as the new General Manager at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Alexandria. This appointment is considered to be a remarkable addition to the hotel management as Aly
has a wealth of experience with some of the largest hotel chains such as Hyatt and Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts.

Hilton Alexandria Green Plaza receives awards

The Hilton Alexandria Green Plaza has achieved
“HACCP” Hazard Analytical Critical Control Procedures for Food and Beverage safety control system and ISO 9001:2008 International Organisation for Standardization for Quality Management Control system. General Manager Ahmed Salama congratulated the whole Hilton Alexandria Green plaza for their achievement.