Cairo, Egypt – 7 November 2009

The first leg of our Why Sport Matters journey is already coming to an end. Having spent the last 2 weeks in and around Cairo, we were able to slip away today to go see the famous Giza Pyramids on the outskirts of the city. It is truly breath-taking to watch the golden sun go down in between these ancient marvels. We took the occasion to film this video as a summary of our time here in Egypt.

We had the good fortune to spend time with a variety of people in the sporting community and got a good taste of the sport culture. Visits included the Cairo Stadium and sport complex (which also holds the Egyptian Olympic Committee), the Olympic training center, qualification for juniors in squash to go to next year’s British Open (one of the big events on the squash calendar), and an interview with one of the greatest football players in Egypt history, Abdel Moneim Hussein.

Although squash was not voted onto the Olympic programme in the latest vote by the IOC, it is still a passion here in Egypt. Many attribute the interest due to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s love for the sport. Nonetheless, the squash community in Egypt is a tight-knit group that constantly seeks out and trains new talent from an early age. Over the years, Egypt has come to dominate the world scene, and produces more world champions than any other country.

Most eyes here however are focused on football over the next year, which culminates in South Africa 2010, the first ever World Cup to be held in Africa. The Egyptian Olympic Committee sees the impact the World Cup is bringing to Africa, and is leading them to consider a run at the 2020 Summer Games.

The hottest topic right now is next weekend’s Egypt-Algeria football match, which will determine who goes to South Africa next year. Egypt has to win by 2 goals to force a play-off, and by 3 goals to go through clear. The atmosphere has already been building here in Cairo (they have cancelled league matches this weekend so the national team can concentrate on their preparation).

Also in the minds of African football supporters is the African Cup of Nations, which will take place in January in Angola (yes, Why Sport Matters also plans to be there for that as well). Qualification spots will be determined by the results of the World Cup matches in Africa on November 14th.

Our next stop is Nigeria, where we plan to spend 8-13 November in the seaside city of Lagos, and then to the capital of Abuja for a few days. The FIFA under-17 men’s World Cup is in its final week and we plan to be at the semi-finals on Thursday and the final match next Sunday.

At the same time, we are looking ahead to Kenya in the second half of November and then South Africa for the month of December.

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