Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Robson Sharuko
24 June 2009
Johannesburg — THE Pharaohs of Egypt -- their reputation tainted by a 0-3 defeat at the hands of the United States of America -- returned home yesterday after a tour of duty that has been marred by damaging media reports here that their players were robbed last week after a fling with some South African prostitutes.
The African champions were knocked out of the 2009 Confederations Cup after a shock 0-3 loss at the hands of the United States in their final Group B game in Rustenberg on Sunday night -- a defeat that sent them rock bottom of a group from where they had been favoured to qualify.
But although the Egyptians are now out of this tournament and have already left this country, the ghost of what happened at their hotel last week continues to haunt the Confederations Cup in what has turned out to be a battle between the Pharaohs and the local media.
The Pharaohs' management claimed last week, following their team's sensational 1-0 win over world champions Italy, that five of their players were robbed of more than US$2 500 in their hotel rooms on the night that they were beating the Azzurri.
The reports thrust the issue of security --- one of the major talking points ahead of South Africa's hosting of the 2010 World Cup finals - back in the limelight and those who have questioned Fifa's decision to hold football's premier tournament in this country suddenly found themselves armed with a lot of ammunition.
But the story took a dramatic twist on Sunday when three newspapers -- Sunday World, City Press and the Sunday Independent -- published reports which suggested that the Egyptians had been robbed by prostitutes that were smuggled into the hotel rooms by the players.
With the reports coming out in the morning of the day that the Egyptians played the Americans in their big tie, the Pharaohs management claimed that it affected their players so much that they lost concentration and this culminated in them losing the game 0-3.
The reports have subsequently been carried around the world with a number of big media organisations, including Sky News, carrying them and painting a bad picture of a team whose morality is supposed to be consistent with the Islamic values that they follow.
Egyptian players normally pray, before, during and after every game and usually celebrate a goal by praying.
The head of the Egyptian delegation at this Confederations Cup, Mahmoud Taher, slammed the local media and blamed it for the reports which he claimed exerted a lot of pressure on his players leading them to their indifferent performance against the United States.
He insisted that the team had been robbed at their hotel and the articles by the local media, suggesting that they were victims of prostitutes, were a deliberate attempt to sway public opinion from what was a shocking security flaw on the part of the organising team.
"The players have been really subjected to terrible damage in Egypt and they are in a very bad mood right now due to the false allegations that were published in the newspapers here," he told a news conference.
"The media have caused all this damage which we were shocked. The allegations were published in the papers here on Saturday and Sunday morning and unfortunately the players heard about it from back home.
"These lies started here in South Africa then they were quoted back home and this had an effect on our players.
"This was not the only reason for the defeat, we had some injuries, and some players got injuries in the match, but these were some of the reasons for the defeat."
He insisted that no strangers were invited into the Pharaohs hotel.
"I am saying that no strangers, no women, no girls, nobody came to the floors or the premises of the Egyptian delegation," he said.
"We came back to our hotel and the players went to their rooms and discovered they had lost their money and their belongings.
"They complained to the reception at the hotel accompanied by our LOC (organising committee) escort who reported it to his superiors and he reported it to the police.
"We thought it could be sorted out as a simple incident that can happen at any hotel. What we are answering today is what was published in the newspapers, not about the theft because the police are investigating that problem.
"We are demanding from the media protection to our players honour and dignity and the rights due to our culture in Egypt."
City Press, the Sunday newspaper, claimed that its sources in the police confirmed that there were no signs of forced entry and added that CCTV footage showed scantily-clad women moving around a number of hotel rooms during what seemed to be a party.
"The players must explain why their rooms were not broken into and why their room safes were not tampered with but they still lost money," an unnamed police source told City Press.
Sunday World, a Johannesburg tabloid, quoted a police officer saying: "We have confirmed that some of the players brought prostitutes whom they picked up on Oxford Road to their hotel rooms and we have strong suspicions that they were cleaned by ladies of the night."
Taher said the Pharaohs will possibly resort to taking legal action.
"After what was published by the City Press and Sunday Independent, we are demanding a formal statement by the police department to either deny these allegations or to provide us with the evidence that they have.
"The Egyptian delegation has, since its arrival in South Africa, been a perfect model during the Confederations Cup with its discipline and dedication to this tournament by the testimony of all officials from the LOC and Fifa.
"We come from a very religious country and our players are very religious and we have a very disciplined team.
"We are completely rejecting all that was published. It was shameful, disgraceful and completely out of track," said Taher.
The South African Police Services have yet to confirm the reports carried out by the Sunday newspapers.
Deputy Police Minister Fikile Mbalula, who is in charge of security at this Confederations Cup, claimed that the issue had been blown out of proportion and pointed the finger in the direction of the media.
"We must extract the truth from the facts and not just exaggerate. This is not a global expression of what happened at the Confederations Cup," he said.
He criticised some sections of the international media.
"The fundamental perception is that people were coming to a war zone, looking at the way it has been reported. The perception is that in South Africa, people are accompanied by crime."
The 2010 World Cup Local Organising Committee chief executive officer Danny Jordaan, who is angry about how the reports of the robbery have been blown around the world, said it was common for people to fall victims to theft at major tournaments.
"I can tell you that players and teams lose money all the time.
"Tell me anyone who says there is no team that has never lost some US$200? There is no such team," he said.
"Judge us on our track record, not by what you think. When you come here, don't construct a different view. You must not sensationalise. It's wrong.
"Base your statements on the facts, not rumours, hearsay or imaginations."
Yesterday the South African media was clearly divided on how to deal with the issue.
Some of the major newspapers went on the defensive and, rather than go along with the sensational story of the prostitutes, decided to tell the world that crime was not only unique to this country.
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