I could not believe our foreign policy makers’ stupidity when I read this news : Egypt withdraws U-20 invite to Uganda. The football federation in Egypt has withdrawn an invitation to Uganda U-20 team to play in Cairo in some tournament and replaced with some Western African team !!
You do not have to guess that politics here play a disturbing role despite the fact that we need the Ugandan football team to play in Cairo and the Egyptian football team to play in Kampala, let the sports fix what politics have ruined from years of African relations neglect.
I know very well that Samir Zahar may have not heard or understand the ping pong diplomacy but surely Abu El-Gait knows it very well and knows that we need it now to win back the African countries in to our side in the south to protect our share of the Nile.
We have lost lots of points in this game I am afraid.
Good observations Zeinobia although it will take more than football games & unsubstantiated slogans to win the majority of Nilotic Africa over. Let's not forget the damage to public relations that the final qualifier between Egypt & Algeria caused to relations between Sudan and Egypt...
ReplyDeleteNo, Africans aren't naive enough to fall for sports competition invitations.
A better bet would be to purge the Egyptian media of racism and blackface, in line with the rest of the civilized world.
Sudanese Observer ....
ReplyDeleteI perfectly agree with you.
Nilotic Africans who know anything about Sudan know that the Sudanese also have issues with Egypt such as:
ReplyDelete1 - The illegal occupation of Halayeb
2 - The racist, denigratory depiction of the Sudanese character in Egyptian media through blackface and other means
3 - The losses that Sudan incurred from the 1959 Agreement and the lack of tangible 'benefit' from the agreement such as electricity from the Aswan Dam
4 - Egypt's insitence on formulating Sudan in a way that serves her national interests, with deisregard to the wishes of the Sudanese peoples.
And non-Sudanese Nilotic Africans rightfully ask themselves - if this is the status quo between Egypt and it's supposed closest neighbour, then what's in it for us and how can we trust Egypt?
And all of this within the backdrop of misleading rhetoric and empty, outdated and moth-eaten slogans on the 'special' relations that bind Egypt and Sudan.
It would be nice to see your agreement with me on the root causes of problems translated into action that changes the reality instead of talk, talk and more talk.
When will blackface be phased out in the Egyptian media?