SME – By Mohamed Al-Joker
During my recent visit to “Moez’s Cairo” a few days ago, on the banks of the eternal Nile, a beautiful coincidence led me to watch the match between our two brothers, Al-Ahly of Cairo and Al-Hilal of Sudan, in the CAF Champions League. The match was held in Mauritania due to the current circumstances facing our brotherly country, Sudan, which we hope will pass peacefully and Sudanese football will return to its former glory. It was a strong match, which we thoroughly enjoyed, and Al-Ahly succeeded in achieving a hard-fought victory, continuing its journey to defend its title. This match reminded me of the beautiful days when our clubs hosted such Arab-Arab matches through fraternal and humanitarian initiatives aimed primarily at strengthening the bonds of love and brotherhood between the Arab peoples. Many of our clubs were pioneers in such initiatives, hosting such Arab matches in the UAE. This was one of the unique characteristics of our clubs, including matches that included stars from our two sister countries, Egypt and Sudan, on various occasions. This was due to the distinguished and strong relations that bind our clubs to their brothers in both countries. Al Wasl Club previously organized the Dubai Challenge Cup, with the participation of the Egyptian Zamalek Club. Al Nasr Club also organized tournaments for Egypt. The capital, Abu Dhabi, has previously hosted the Egyptian Super Cup between Zamalek and Al Ahly more than once, as well as other clubs such as Al Masry and Pyramids. Abu Dhabi also hosted the Sudanese Super Cup between Al Hilal and Al Merreikh. These Arab humanitarian initiatives have achieved great success at various levels. The question that arises is why have our clubs recently stopped such humanitarian and community initiatives, which used to contribute to strengthening the bonds of friendship and brotherhood between our various clubs and Arab clubs? The reason, in my opinion, is due to our clubs’ focus on local competition and the frantic race to bring in more foreign players to no avail. How long will this situation continue? Is there a clear answer to these questions? And Allah knows best.
