كتب : أحمد سعيد | الإثنين، 19 نوفمبر 2007 - 15:53

Sore Losers

It seems that even continuous winning has its downsides. Ahli's winning streak was too stretched that they forgot what it means to lose with grace.

After ugly scenes staged by their players and fans in the Cairo International Stadium during and after the African Champions League final, their administration added to the misery by accusing the referee of match fixing.

The club issued a statement after the game, demanding CAF to launch an investigation into "the referee's mistakes which were beyond the boundaries of normal human error."

Prominent Ahli director Adli Al-Qaeyi also wrote in his weekly column in Al-Masri Al-Youm that Moroccan referee Abderrahim El-Arjoune "deliberately incapacitated his side."

Then the club's magazine claimed that they have information of a secret meeting between an official from Etoile Sahel and El-Arjoune in Paris before the game.

Sadly, all these serious (and honestly pathetic) charges were not supported by solid evidence except a photo, which has yet to appear, supposedly showing Etoile's vice-president with El-Arjoune.

Despite all these statements, press releases and comments, none of the Ahli officials sent one word of apology to the Tunisian players who were assaulted by fans in the stadium.

The new African Champions were grabbed, hit and spat at (never mind the verbal abuse) before and after receiving their medals.

The shameful incidents took place in front of the main tribune where President Hosni Mubarak waited to hand the trophy.

These incidents followed direct insults caught on camera from several Ahli players towards the guests during the 3-1 defeat.

Such unbecoming actions on part of the Egyptian champions will almost certainly result in sanctions from the CAF, Africa’s governing football body, which means that a shot at next year’s title might also be at risk.

Ahli have made Egypt proud through out the past two seasons with their character and winning mentality but they became an embarrassment for the whole nation after the African flop.

مقالات أخرى للكاتب
التعليقات