Investigation Report

 

Death Under Investigation: Poverty, Negligence kill Egyptian Champion

Documented Investigation

 

Poverty pushed him to risk life and limb for keeping what he has achieved over the training years. He wanted to become a professional player in cycling and keep his family away from poverty to live a decent life.

 

This is Islam Nasser Rajaie, the member of the Egyptian National Cycling Team, who died of a heart attack at The African Championships in South Africa on March 20, 2017.

 

Nasser was one of the Athletes who has been prepared to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He won the Egyptian National Cycling championship in 2016 by 8 minutes ahead of his closest rival, in what was described by his colleagues and the Egyptian Cycling Federation’s president as an “Achievement”. He topped the African Championship race in South Africa until he died before the final curtain falls.

 

Dr. Wagih Azzam, President of the Egyptian Cycling Federation (ECF), and Mr. Hisham Hatab, head of the Egyptian Olympic Committee, have been trying to confirm that Nasser was healthy and ready to take part in the championships.

 

However, YallaKora has investigated the incident to discover further details about Nasser’s case.

 

Death Camp

 

The team camp was held before traveling to South Africa in February 2017. The Egyptian Ministry of Youth and Sports notified the Egyptian Federation that it would not afford the costs of the trip according to an earlier decision which was made due to the lack of foreign currency (dollars). Consequently, the federation would pay the costs and Coach Mohamed Ibrahim decided that three players would travel; Nasser and two other female players.

 

"The three players were told the decision without our knowledge,” an unnamed female player told Yallakora. "Islam felt dizzy during the last camp, and stopped more than once during the training."

 

Another player, called “A. R”, confirmed that Nasser felt dizziness before traveling but he had insisted to complete and finish the training.

Feared of the seriousness of the accident and the reprisal of president of the Federation, as they said, one of the two players asked not to mention her name and the other asked just to use her initials only.

 

This incident, where Nasser lost consciousness was not the first. He had the same incident in September 2015 during a training camp in Switzerland, where the headquarters of the international federation of the game is located.

"Nasser was fainting more than once, one of them was in Switzerland in August 2015, before being moved to the UCI Medical Center,” Islam Shawki, a teammate who accompanied Nasser in Switzerland, said in exclusive statements. “Doctors issued a medical report, asking him to stop playing because of a congenital defect”.

 

We met Dr. Azzam, at the Federation Headquarters, where he has shown us Nasser’s medical reports, but in fact, he gave us an uncertified Arabic translation of the Swiss report, for the original document written in French, he said: “You must trust us”, without giving us the original report.

 

Dr. Azzam is also the President of both the African Cycling Confederation and Vice-President of the UCI.

 

We have contacted Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), that is based in Aigle, Switzerland, for the original report, but received no response yet.

 

According to the medical reports presented by the president of the Federation, Nasser was fit to practice sports and have a healthy heart.

 

https://youtu.be/fAdteqUFDFU

 

Dr. Azzam said: “You must trust us”, without giving us the original report.

 

Mr. Hatab, who told us over a telephone call, that Nasser’s death in South Africa has been investigated, and the Cycling Federation did everything necessary to the player, confirming his knowledge of all reports, but he did not confirm his knowledge of the original copy of the French report, because, as he said, he was not familiar with the medical terminology.

 

We have also asked Mr. Hatab to be briefed on the death certificate and asked him to send us all the medical reports, including the Swiss report, but he declined to answer to his phone since that call.

 

The reason of death in Nasser’s death certificate was “under investigation” in which Mr. Hatab, was not aware of it, that is why we asked him to be briefed on the certificate. We reported that supported by documents.

 

Islam Shawki, Naser's teammate, said that the report issued by the UCI, asked him to temporarily stop playing: "Nasser was prevented from the training by the Doctors, and they put him under accurate examination through a device installed on his body for 48 hours to check his breathing and his heart, then they asked him to undergo more accurate medical tests In Egypt as the return date to Cairo was due, and his visa to Switzerland was ended."

 

“Tests in Egypt are inaccurate, contrary to Switzerland,” Islam Shawki said, describing the treatment in Egypt, adding that Nasser already stayed away from participating in the competitions.

 

During a press conference to reveal the circumstances of the death, Mr. Azzam said that Nasser underwent examinations in Sharm El-Sheikh Hospital, Ain Shams Hospital, and a Military Hospital after returning from Switzerland.

 

We went to Ain Shams Hospital to ask about the health status of the player and to get a medical report explaining his health condition, so we met Dr. Mohamed Helmy, the Hospital Director, who confirmed that there was no medical report issued for the player.

 

“He attended the hospital twice, first in September 2015, after coming back from Switzerland, and the second in June 2016, but no medical report had made was issued for the player. He just went through simple tests,” Helmy said.

 

We got medical reports issued by the Armed Forces Medical Complex, the Specialized Paediatric Cardiac Center, and Sharm al-Sheikh International Hospital proving that Nasser was suffering from left ventricular hypertrophy, mitral valve regurgitation, as well as a kind of arrhythmia.

 

Copies of the reports that prove the player's health condition.

Mr. Azzam did not acknowledge the validity of those documents, stressing that the health of the player was good, and he was fit to the training naturally, as he presented reports that support his situation, including a report issued in June 2016 stating that Nasser suffered from dizziness resulting from a stroke in the brain but would not affect his activity level.

 

Yallakora shows the medical reports that presented by the Federation president, doctors (not the hospitals mentioned previously), as well as the periodic reports issued by his club, Tala'ea Al-Gaish SC, at the beginning of each season.

 

Despite Nasser’s health status, his friend Islam Shawki, who lives in Port Said, in northeast Egypt, spoke about his physical abilities: "Islam’s heart is stronger than my heart, although the Garmin device indicated that his heart beats speed reached 245 per minute, which is the dangerous rate on his life."

 

The Garmin is still with Nasser’s father, where it was returned with Nasser’s belongings. Yallakora has acquired the measurement of Islam's Garmin that showed his heart beats rate before the tournament, recorded 245 beats on February 9, 244 on February 28, 234 pulses on March 2, and 10 days later on March 12, the device indicated 211 beats.

 

The Garmin device is designed to monitor heart beats and used by athletes to check periodically their physical condition.

 

Some of Nasser’s colleagues confirmed that he obtained the Garmin from the UCI, during one of the camps there. The device is not available in Egypt because of its high-cost, which may exceed 30.000 Egyptian pounds.

  Mr. Hatab denied any knowledge of the Garmin’s measures or that Nasser has fainted before traveling to South Africa, considering that information is new, although he has previously informed us that he had already investigated the incident and reviewed all the documents.

 .

For his part, Dr. Ahmed Fathi, Dean of the National Heart Institute, pointed out that the heart rate shown was indicating that Nasser should have been admitted to the ICU immediately.

 

He explained that the normal heart rate ranges from 60 to 70 beats per minute in the normal situation, and rises in the case of exercise, but not to exceed 200 beats.

 

Sherif Abdullah, the former player and current trainer in the UAE, showed the nature of the device and how to use it, pointing out that the device is manufactured by a global company. The Garmin is installed on the bike and at the same time connected to the body of the player.

 

Nasser’s friend explains that, despite the seriousness of Nasser’s heartbeat rate, he participated in several tournaments after returning to the game again: "It was difficult for him to stop playing because he is belonged to a modest family."

 

Nasser won the first place at Egyptian National Cycling championship in 2016 by 8 minutes ahead of his closest rival, in what was described by his colleagues and the head of the ECF as an “Achievement”.

 

ECF President has refused to recognize the Garmin’s readings, pointing out that it is unsupported medically.

ِAcknowledgement of Responsibility

 

In accordance with a special procedure applied only in the case of players who suffer health problems, Nasser signed a document acknowledging his responsibility for participation in the championships before traveling to Congo, one of his colleagues. Consequently, he won all subsequent championships including the last one in South Africa.

 

Similarly, a cycling player called “M.A” said: “My father signed a document acknowledging his responsibility for any consequences that might occur as a result of my participation in competitions”. Despite the “M.A” was not 20 years old and participated in world championships and won a lot of medals. But, unfortunately, the Federation did not check her health provide the medical even she obtained the necessary reports supporting her health situation.

 

Dr. Azzam said that the acknowledgment of Islam regarding his responsibility towards the game was a good step after preventing him from playing for around 10 months.

 

“I refused his participation although he submitted all reports and check-ups proofing he was fit for playing and my desire to appoint him as a coach for the national team; especially after opening the new track,” he added. “I believed in his intelligence and self-awareness that might him to be a global-coach”

Mr. Hatab considered the approval of the player on his on his own responsibility to practice the game a smart move by the Federation in a time when suspicions emerged about his health condition was “A smart action from the Federation when there was a suspicion that the player was ill.”

 

Sherif Abdullah, who returned from the UAE to follow the player’s case, believed that the humble financial position of the family was the reason behind the insistence of Islam Nasser to continue his career relentlessly despite his illness.”

 

Moreover, Yallakora obtained the final report of the medical center in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, on 20th of March indicating that the reason behind his death is still under investigation however the player asserted that he did not suffer any infectious diseases.

 

Death under Investigation

 

According to the report issued by the said center, two death certificates were issued in South Africa and Egypt, as well as a burial permission, with the reason of death “under investigation”.

 

Death certificate from South Africa to transfer the corpse

Description of the corpse

 

Burial Permission

 

Commenting on the death reason mentioned in the certificate, Mr. Hatab stated that the corpse was delivered in a coffin which was never opened and that we have asked the South African party about the death reason indicated in the said certificate with “under investigation”. Therefore, we required an original copy of the death certificate before abstaining from communication.

Dr. Mohamed Hassan, the Egyptian Ambassador in South Africa said that he was in Pretoria, a district that is far from kwazulu-natal with around 600 km and where competition was held.

 

He confirmed that he expedited the required procedures to transfer the corpse to Egypt within 48 hours and added that he contacted with the medical center in South Africa to ask for the note “Under Investigation” that was added to the death certificate in order to make sure that the said note is added only to complete the required procedures, provided that the final medical report related to the player’s state will be added within 4-6 weeks.

 

The player lived in a quiet place called “Parrot village” of Beni Suef Governorate, with his parents, his brother Fares and his married sister who are still seeking his right.

 

The player’s family sought for the final report from South Africa “apart from the Egyptian Federation” to realize what was happened; especially that they didn’t aware the reason behind the concealment of the Swiss report.

 

They also asserted that their son wasn’t insured and didn’t get his salary since September 2016 in addition to he didn’t receive any rewards related to his medals or championships.

 

https://youtu.be/uZK8B_Wdjsw

Interview with Nasser’s family.

 

The Case Closed

Ministry of Youth and Sports announced that this case is finally closed while another source indicated that the ministry has already granted the player's family a financial compensation.

 

“The relation of ministry with such Federation is limited to providing the required budget while other technical matters are the responsibility of federations and Olympic committee,” the source, who asked to remain anonymous, added.

 

Moreover, we have contacted with another source inside the ministry who attended a meeting held in the parliament among the player’s family, Dr. Azzam, Cycling Federation President and members of Youth and Sports Committee.

 

He said: “the death is the act of God and the Federation provided all proofs confirming the player’s safety and it won’t be the last death.”

 

Nasser’s Family is still looking for the reason of his death while a state of sadness still prevails among them.

 

The lost dream of Salah.. Thousands of players, the victims to the delusive investment

Written by: Mohamed Mostafa

Designed by: Ahmed Kamel

Carrying his shoes in his hands, after finishing his work shift, he takes a tuktuk to Tasnee club from the fourth division, where he plays in the first team. He hopes that these lean years would end soon.

Ahmed Nady Mohamed, the Tasnee club player, works as a salesman in a shop for the mobiles accessories sales and maintenance. He says: “Football is a life to us. The work doesn’t satisfy me, but it helps me to live”.

Away from the cameras and the followers, thousands of players play hot matches in the second, third and fourth divisions, and the youth centers. They hope to continue playing to get transferred to one of the better clubs that could ensure them a decent life, secure their future financially, and allow them to achieve a success in the hobby they loved and practiced since childhood … Football.

In this feature story, we uncover to you the drop in the footballers’ base in Egypt. Despite the financial ecstasy in the premiere league clubs, id didn’t have any impact on the footballers’ base, or the money flow to the small clubs. The chances for a new talent to appear have shrunk. Hence the football studios would question about a striker for the national team, and a substitute for Abdallah Alsaid. While Salah remains a boom that will not recur.

Ahmed Nady, the Tasnee player is 21 years old. He advanced from the emerging sector to the first team. Beside that he works in a shop for the selling and maintenance of mobiles and accessories.

Ahmed Nady studies in the faculty of physical education. He works in the mobiles shop without a weekend for about 10 to 12 hours daily. Besides, he goes to 5 training session each week. “I ask the permission of the shop owner for a lunch break or a study session to go to the training”.

The clubs are suffering as well. Hany Said the chairman of Goldi sporting club competing in the third division says to Yallakora that the expenses of the first team will reach 3 million pounds this season with an increase from 2.6 million pounds the last season. And that he can only secure 60% of that by the selling and the transfers of the players while the rest of the money will be paid from his own pocket”.

The economic state had an impact on the base of football practicing in all the league divisions and youth centers. The numbers emanating from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) are shocking as they show a huge decrease in the total number of amateur and professional players practicing football in the last 5 years, and particularly in the last 2 years.

CAPMAS addresses all the sports facilities in Egypt (governmental, public sector, private clubs, youth centers of the cities and governorates) to provide it with the number of players classified according to the game (football, handball, basketball, wrestling, etc.), the gender (male or female), and the age (elders or emerging). That’s how the data are collected for a comprehensive inventory for all the listed facilities.

CAPMAS announces the annual numbers by the end of the following year. It is decided that the numbers of players for 2017 to be announced in December 2018, and likewise for all the past years.

An amateur or a professional

Nady earns 400 to 600 pounds for playing in the first team of Tasnee, and his salary includes a monthly incentive of 150 pounds.

FIFA lists Ahmed Nady and some of Goldi sporting club players as amateurs not professionals. According to FIFA regulations, a professional is a player who has a written contract with a club and is paid more for his footballing activity than the expenses he effectively incurs. All other players are considered to be amateurs.

Egyptian Football Association (EFA) … A timid development

The salary of Nady was only 10 pounds. “After that there was a raise, when I became 18 my salary became 150 pounds” Nady said.

EFA showed that the lack of support for the lower divisions’ clubs goes back to the absence of sponsors for these leagues and clubs.

Magdi Abdelghani EFA member said: “we couldn’t get sponsors even for the second division clubs, because of the big numbers of the clubs and the bad quality of the football fields. We decided to create a new competition (B Premiere league) that includes only 18 clubs to develop a stronger league that encourage the sponsors to support this division, and to save some for the support of the rest of the divisions that are not interesting to the sponsors.” He added: “The clubs that don’t have capabilities, will always be down”

The second division league now is formed of three groups, Upper Egypt group, Cairo group and the north group with 16 clubs in each group.

Mahmoud Saad the technical manager of Ittihad Alexandria Club said that the first division (premiere league) is the only division that could be considered professional in Egypt. Otherwise, the other divisions are not considered professional.

FIFA statistic

“The work has a bad psychological and physical impact on me; it doesn’t give me a space for football. It is too difficult to be a player” Nady said in despair before he continues trying to uphold his childhood dream: “Football can’t be just a hobby; I have the ambition to reach something”

The number of registered Egyptian players in a statistic issued by the FIFA statistics authority in 2006 was estimated to be 260 Thousand players. While in Germany which have a similar population number to Egypt, there are 9 million players.

 We mailed FIFA to ask about updated numbers of players in Egypt. But FIFA corporate communications manager Alexander Koch replied that we have to go back to the EFA because FIFA doesn’t have any updated statistics for the numbers of players.

Discrepancy in EFA

Nady is one of the registered players in the EFA records since he started participating in the EFA competitions of the emerging sector till today.

EFA doesn’t have a statistic for the number of the professional or the amateur players. According to Walid El-Attar, the head of the players’ affairs committee in EFA: “The contracts of all the registered players are available in EFA but they were not counted”

Mahmoud Saad the technical manager of EFA showed to YallaKora that he only has a statistic for the number of EFA registered players for the last 3 years, since he was assigned for this position in March 2015. The number of players back then was 58 thousand players. In 2016, it was 78 thousand players and in 2017 it became 102 thousand players.

Despite the increase in the numbers given to us by Mahmoud Saad, he wasn’t satisfied with them. As they represent 0.001 % from the total population of Egypt which is a very low percentage, and that he is working on a project to develop the academies to increase the participants base.

Hany Abo Rida the president of EFA had a press statement late 2016 in which he mentioned that the number of players in EFA records for that year was about 90 thousands, which is different from the number Mahmoud Saad gave us.

The numbers given by Mahmoud Saad for 2015 is equal to the number of the CAPMAS if we exclude the number of registered players in youth centers. But in the following year, 2016, Mahmoud Saad’s numbers (78 thousand players) were different from the numbers issued by CAPMAS after excluding the players in youth centers (56011 players)

The private sector expansion

Hany Said the chairman of Goldi sporting club revealed a trick some managers do. They buy the name of a small club for emerging players and they bring a number of young players who pay an amount of money monthly. Then he leads them in the matches of the sectors league hoping that he could market one of those players and he gets a fiscal return from selling him.

Goldi chairman considered that this way is not an investment but a way for quick profit. But he didn’t deny the benefits the players get from that, as it is an easy way to get experience and display themselves for the other clubs hoping for a better future. 

The model of England

Nady who comes from an average working-class family said: “I start building myself with nothing in hand, I was saving and I got engaged but I couldn’t get married for some circumstances”

Nady talks about the pressures he got from his father to leave football and look for a future, like what happened with his brother who was playing in Zamalek emerging team but left for a full-time job in the end because he couldn’t show commitment in all the team camps. What put more pressure on him is that once he broke his hand he had to take a 10-day leave that was cut from his salary.

 James webb, the communication manager in the English football association, said that footballing is a professional job in England, because it is a full time job. There are semiprofessional degrees for those who work in other jobs beside football and amateur degrees in which the players play for entertainment not for money.

The communication manager said exclusively to YallaKora that his country has 4 divisions for professionals with a full-time job, starting from the premiere league to league two, and then other 7 levels for the provisional league, 4 of them include semiprofessional clubs.

The English football association considered increasing the number of professional levels from 4 to 5 so that the clubs number increase from 92 to 100 clubs.

The English competitions in total are 58 with 84 divisions. The English football association aims to provide the clubs with the financial and logistic capabilities, and monitor the rise and fall among the different levels.

The following info graph shows the professional levels in England and the national league, the first level of the semiprofessionals which the association discusses changing to a professionals’ level.

And there are other seven levels for the English provisional league as follows:

Hany Said the chairman of Goldi sporting club expressed his wish that the league in Egypt would work the same way it works in England: “The problem is that there are a big number of youth centers registered in EFA that participate in the league with the clubs from the second, third and fourth divisions”

Goldi chairman suggested that the youth centers to be excluded, and there could be a youth centers league separated from the professional levels which include only the clubs. Consequently, the number would decrease and EFA and the clubs would be able to bring sponsors.

He said that the function of youth centers is to be a nucleus for talents production, and that it could get a financial return for the player who gets transferred to a club, and that would help developing the infrastructure, supporting other talented players and preparing them to play in the clubs and the higher levels.

Football is not for earning a living

We reached some second division players and found that a number of players are working in other jobs beside football. One of them works in making bread, but he refused to make an interview with YallaKora. We reached another player from the second division who moved recently to one of the premiere league clubs and used to work in Careem Company for transportation.

Goldi chairman said that he also has players who have other jobs beside football; one of them works in a pharmacy.

It is difficult to control that a player would have another job. Mohamed Fadl the regulations expert and sports councilor for the general authority of youth and sports in UAE said: “sports law didn’t recognize football as a profession in the first place”. He added: “The laid down contracts in Egypt don’t make an obligation on the player unlike Europe. The player has the right to have an investment project but he can’t run it until he retires”

Providing gadgets for players

About the gadgets Tasnee club provides for its players Nady said: “we take a jersey and shorts for the matches and the same for the training. We take socks but I buy the football boots.  I can take secondhand football boots from the club to sell it and add some money to buy a new one”.

He said laughing: “I played a lot with one shoe different from the other, one is size 42 and the other is 44. But the team is good, we all help each other. Whoever has something missing, one teammate helps him”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLgSyybuTCw&feature=youtu.be

Goldi chairman explained that the players have to be excused because the value of the contracts signed with the clubs is not big and the money payments are done through the whole season. Taking into consideration the participation percentage, the discounts coming from taking yellow cards or absences and others, the player wants to be financially secured so he works beside playing football and he is not to be blamed for that.

In Article 25 of the sports law it is stated that there are 5 resources for the sports association.

Ahmed El-mesery the president of Nabaruh club competing in the second division league and is falling to the third division said that the club revenues don’t exceed a million pounds annually. That represents 25 to 30 percent of the needed for expenditure. Consequently the fiscal deficit percentage is more than 70 percent.

El-mesery said in a telephone call with “YallaKora” that the club board of directors includes 3 businessmen who support the club financially. In addition, there are little advertising from the ministry of sports and EFA to cover the rest of the expenses.

Nabaruh president complained about the shortage in financial support in comparison to the clubs owned by companies that he described as “a burden on the popular clubs”.

A proposal to resolve the crisis

Mohamed Fadl-Allah the regulations expert, proposed a resolution to save the players expenditure and increase the practicing base. That’s by accrediting the sports union of schools and universities and making it a member of the Olympic committee. He said: “Egypt has 45 thousand schools and 22 million students which is a very big number compared to the numbers in the clubs and youth centers.”

He said: “In case of the increase of the practicing base, the clubs use of clothes, catering, medication and all the other needs will increase as well, and that will push the companies to sponsor the clubs and the players.”

The inspiration of Salah and Vardy

Mohamed Salah has an inspirational story, as he started playing with a ball made of socks in the streets of his village, Nagrig. After that he had many experiences in Nagrig youth center, Basyoun club and Othmanon team (Tanta contractors), until he reached a professional level.

Moreover, Salah had an experience in PEPSI schools league which polished his talent. And he had a professional experience in Al Mokawloon Al Arab SC, and scaled up through the different age levels before joining the first team, to start his journey with the national teams and the European experience.

Salah said in a TV interview for Modern Sport Channel after he moved to Basel FC: “I used to travel 4 times a week from my village in Basyoun to the premises of Al Mokawloon Al Arab SC in Cairo in a very young age”

The English Vardy has another exceptional story in moving forward from playing in the amateurs’ levels to the professional levels and getting crowned after winning the premiere league with leicester city in 2013 scoring 13 goals.

5 years earlier, Vardy was playing in Stocksbridge Park Steels F.C. from the seventh English division while working in a part time job in a factory for medical splints before he moved up in the higher levels reaching leicester city and winning the premiere league and joining his national team in the world cup.