The conclusion of Hosni Mubarak’s departure surely didn’t cross the minds of Hossam and Ibrahim Hassan when they decided to go out and join the toppled president’s supporters, particularly on February the 2nd.
It was the day which saw 300 Egyptians killed in clashes with the former regime’s state security police; an incident which was defining in Mubarak’s destiny having left most of the nation’s people fuming.
Days before the ex-president’s exit, the Hassans went to the streets to join hundreds of Mubarak supporters, showing full loyalty to the latter and hoping they would surpass the millions at the other end.
However, after the earth-shattering downfall of the regime and the virtual victory of the people, I wonder what the Hassan twins’ stance will be now.
Personally I expect Egypt’s most famous twin brothers to lavish praise on the revolution, urging a fight against corruption, and ‘Father Mubarak’ will be history all of a sudden!
“I swear to God I will never support Zamalek as long as the Hassan twins are in charge,” an obvious anti-Mubarakite and a member of the Zamalek White Knights - the club’s ultras group - said.
2-Shehata to switch sides
Like the Hassans, Egypt boss Hassan Shehata was one of many celebrities to show full support to Mubarak before the ex-president’s evidential defeat… but what now?
In the nearest chance to talk about the events, I can see ‘The Master’ hailing Egypt’s youth for their ‘determination and awareness’, while remaining tight-lipped about ‘Father Mubarak’.
3-Spending control
One of the Egyptian Revolution’s primary demands was the fair distribution of wealth, amid accusations to the ex-presidential family, along with other authority-related businessmen, of illegally amassing huge sums of money.
Ismaili star Hosni Abd-Rabou for example, could be forced to tone down his EGP 5M-a-season request, following the club’s ultras vow to boycott games unless a salary cap is applied.
Big-spenders ENPPI and Petrojet are two clubs who belong to the petroleum sector and are directly funded by the Ministry of Petroleum.
With thousands of petroleum employees protesting against ‘money spent on footballers’ at the time when the former contingent is struggling at work, Petroleum Minister Sameh Fahmi – a prominent patron of ENPPI and Petrojet – could be forced to change tactics.
It is also unlikely that footballers will be appointed as employees in companies without attending a single day of work, just because they belong to a petroleum-sector club.
“It is unfair, if I am an employee at a petroleum-sector company, why would a footballer who already earns money from his job come and earn additional income from my company,” said former ENPPI and Egypt keeper Nader Al-Sayed.
4-Teams to blame break
The second half of the Egyptian league season is looming and some teams will normally decline as others march on in the relatively-competitive campaign.
The first excuse to pop out of any losing team’s manager will be: ‘The break has affected our team badly!”
5-Ismaili to bring down Egyptian FA??
Following the successful outcome of Egypt’s biggest ever demonstrations, it won’t be surprising to see natural-born protesters Ismaili drifting with the tide.
The coastal club’s officials have never ever been satisfied with any football authority involving their team; as long as they’re not winning.
Amid the ongoing demonstrations by angry employees against their respective employers in several institutions including state TV, I can feel that the Dervishes will call for Egyptian FA chairman’s Samir Zaher head in the nearest opportunity.
To be reasonable, no club can singlehandedly bring the association down, but I bet Ismaili will try!
6-Chants, unity and patriotism….and then…
As soon as the league comes to a start, fans will forget supporting their respective clubs for a while and nationalistic chants will dominate the stands in our stadiums.
Sportsmanship and patriotism will rule!
However, as competition intensifies, controversial refereeing decisions begin to take place, things go wrong for a big team or a derby match is underway – all part of the game – , will normal service be resumed?
We’ll have to wait and hope that Egyptian people - most of which are mad about football - have learnt from the extraordinary 18 days they’ve experienced between January and February 2011 that football is only a game.
7-The South Africa encounter
Egypt’s CAN 2012 qualifier in South Africa next month is a make-or-break mission, given the African champs’ dismal position in the group.
Should Egypt manage a positive result against Bafana, the 18-day unrest in the country will be transformed into a driving thrust to ‘make Egyptian people happy’.
But if another disappointing result took place in Pretoria, the ‘difficult circumstances’ will be the first phrase to be mentioned at the post-match conference.
8-Ahli’s fitness concern
Of all clubs in the league, holders Ahli could be one of few teams to struggle with fitness after the competition’s imminent restart.
Manuel Jose’s squad took a full rest during the 18-day revolution, at the time when arch-rivals Zamalek, along with several other teams, were working hard on the training ground.
It remains to be seen whether the legendary Jose will be able to work his magic and save the champions’ tough season amid the abnormal circumstances.
9-Foregin transfer targets
The transfer cycle is expected to restart in the next few weeks after the FA’s extension to the January window, but some teams will surely struggle to recruit their major transfer targets.
Ahli , for example, are still looking for an overseas striker and the Reds’ quest could face a stern challenge as decent players will think more than twice before making a move to Egypt in the meantime.
10-Referee strikes?
Referees have been consistently complaining about low salaries in recent years, way before the revolution.
I don’t expect Egyptian referees to remain silent after most of Egypt’s government employees have sounded their frustration over low salaries in the wake of the historic uprising.