Egypt’s Super Basket events reveal construction errors and official negligence

The events of the Egyptian Super Basketball match between Al-Ahly and Al-Ittihad of Alexandria, which was canceled, revealed the great problems that have been imposed on the management policy of Egyptian sports activities, in general, and the sport of futsal games with its various games, in particular.

The incident of the fall of an advertising iron wall on the runway of Hassan Mustafa Hall in the city on October 6 in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, has turned into a matter of public opinion on the street, against the backdrop of controversial events, the most notable of which is that not more than a year has passed since the opening of that hall, and the occurrence of a major malfunction on the advertising wall. Hadidi easily fell on the fans of Al-Ittihad from Alexandria and caused widespread injuries, in addition to assigning the management of the hall to the former official of the Zamalek club, Mustafa Hadhoud, who a few weeks after the election was forced to resign from the position of vice-president of the Zamalek club, due to the illegal obtaining of a medal, and video clips of the incident were leaked, which greatly embarrassed the club’s leadership in public.

As well as the imposition of omissions by the administration of the hall itself, which was not responsible for the safety of the masses, with the non-arrival of doctors and medical personnel who were supposed to be present in the large sports center, in addition to the absence of ambulances that were late in arriving at the hall, despite direct instructions to they do not hold sports matches, except in the case when ambulances are available, especially after the phenomenon of individual athletes falling at official matches spread.

The basketball association is in trouble

The match caused a major crisis against the Basketball Association headed by Magdy Abu Freikh who did not make a decision to cancel the match after the fall of the iron wall on the fans of the Alexandria association, despite loud voices and pressure from Al-Ahly and Al-Ittihad club officials to make a decision, and he wanted to finish the match, before he was forced to. Until the cancellation, after the players of Al-Ahly and Al-Ittihad who participated in the rescue operations, the fans refused to complete it, so the Basketball Association got into a problem, especially since it is responsible for choosing the hall to hold the match, because it is about the big domestic title “Super Basketball”, and the high value of tickets for the game itself for fans which sometimes reached 5 thousand pounds per ticket, without taking the necessary checks for adequate health insurance for the fans in attendance, in light of the decision made before it was selected only 500 fans from each club, to control the security of the match, while avoiding any fan conflicts in the stadium. Two clubs during the match that took place in the covered hall.

Public outrage

Anger in general dominated the masses over the event, which was evident in the major reactions that occurred after the runway crash, and the subsequent official statements and leaks related to the incident.

The first anger came from the masses, who chanted against gross negligence, demanded the arrival of an ambulance and participated in the rescue of Al-Ittihad fans. Footage of the same game in three periods, without referring to any events related to the presence of the injury, propagating a lot about the existence of one injury among Al-Ittihad fans, and the delay in announcing the end of the game, and its cancellation by the players of the two teams.

Anger also prevailed when the officials of the Basketball Association promoted on social networks that the crowd is considered responsible for the fall of the runway, due to non-compliance with safety instructions and special instructions, not to be on the “runway” for advertisements due to the possibility of a fall, which also reveals negligence. Serious in the event that the incident rejected by the masses is correct, and it is reflected in how to leave a violation that threatens the safety of the masses that occurs in a covered hall. by Al-Ittihad fans, as well as the security of the fence and the hall that was opened as part of the hall complex that was inaugurated at the beginning of last year 2021 as one of the championship halls. World Handball Championship in Egypt.

It is interesting that the Minister of Youth and Sports, Ashraf Sobhi, completely ignored the calls to resign from his position and contented himself only with going to the hospital where Al-Ittihad fans from Alexandria are being treated. under the pretext of providing them with moral support, which is the moral and financial support provided by the officials of the Al-Ittihad Club from Alexandria, headed by Muhammad Moselhi, as soon as the incident occurred.

And social networks turned into a massive volcano of anger at the events that followed the match between Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahly, and fans of various affiliations called out the minister of youth and sports, as well as the president of the basketball and football association. Association, Magdi Abu Freikha, to resign from their positions, in the light of bearing moral responsibility for the alleged demolition of the advertising wall in the hall. It is a world-class hall that cost two and a half billion pounds, in order to enter the sports service of holding matches of a small football, including basketball, with full insurance for fans.

Medical reports of the event revealed that there were no deaths among Al-Ittihad fans and the presence of more than 20 fans, who were subjected to various injuries, most of whom received the necessary assistance and were quickly discharged from the hospital.

It was decided to cancel the local super match between the club Al-Ahly and Al-Ittihad from Alexandria, based on the wishes of the players of the two teams who were psychologically affected by the fall of a part of the runway of the hall on the fans of Al. -Ittihad Club of Alexandria, and there were injuries among them, and the date for the interrupted rematch has not been determined, with the leadership of Al-Ittihad over Al-Ahly (67-45).