Photos by Ehab Othman | تصوير إيهاب عثمان

Part of World Rally Championship | جزء من بطولة الرالي الدولية

14 – 16 April, 2011 | ١٤ – ١٦ نيسان ٢٠١١

رصد: حبر

لم تتبع المدونات تيار الإعلام السائد في تغطيتها الخجولة للأحداث العنيفة التي حصلت بعد مباراة الوحدات و الفيصلي في القويسمة يوم الجمعة الموافق ١٠-١٢-٢٠١٠. فبالمقارنة مع الجرائد بدء المدونون يوم السبت بإطلاق أصواتهم، مشاركين الصور، و ملفات الفيديو التي التقطت من الستاد،  طارحين أسئلة لا تتناول فقط حقيقة ما حدث بين مشجعي الفريقين و الدرك، و لكن المسببات الإجتماعية، و السياسية المتراكمة التي أدت ، وما زالت تؤدي، الى إشعال فتيل مثل هذا العنف في مباريات الفريقين.

شاركت بتقرير الجزيرة عن الحدث، و قطعت شادن “تعهدها الضمني” بعدم الكتابة بالسياسة لأنها لم تستطع السكوت على”مدى الظلم الذي وقع على فئة مستضعفة من المواطنين الأردنيين” و خصوصا بعد محاولة بعضهم “تكنيسه تحت السجادة”. هذا الظلم لم ينشأ بين ليلة و ضحاها، و هو بعيد كل البعد آن يكون بسبب كرة قدم بالنسبة لمحمد. “ما جرى امس، وقبله في مدينة الزرقاء التي تناولتها برقية “السفارة الاميركية”،وقبلها في استاد مدينة الحسين، يكشف بكل وضوح مدى التعبئة العنصرية البغيضة… فالمسألة لم تعد رياضية مطلقا، بل سياسية بحتة”. هذه العنصرية تراكمية، بالنسبة للمحمد،  و لن تستطيع لجان التحقيق أن توقف استمرارها، ” وان كانت مطلوبة بشدة، انما تحل بوقف الاقليمية البغيضة التي تروجها النخب الفاسدة”. تضاربت مواقف المعلقين فكان تعليق أحدهم أنه ” في حادثة القويسمة لم تكن هي [العنصرية] الأساس فقوات الدرك ينقصها الإنضباط وسبق وأن اعتدت على المواطنين من كافة الأصول والمنابت”.

“لقوات الدرك سوابق في استعمال العنف لفض مظاهرة أو تجمّع أو أعمال عنف، كما أن لهم سوابقاً أيضاً في التصرّف الفرديّ دون تلقي أوامر من رؤسائهم، فهل قامت هذه القوات فعلاً بتجاوز حدودها هذه المرة أيضاً؟” يتسائل أسامة مستندا الى ما انتشر في الإعلام. و لكنه يشكك في فيديو قناة الجزيرة الذي لم يظهر أحداث ما قبل هجوم الدرك على الجمهور، “من المرجّح أنّ قيام “الجزيرة” بتحميل مسؤولية أعمال العنف هذه للدرك، يأتي انتقاماً لاعتداء الدرك بالضرب على مراسلها “ياسر أبو هلالة” العام الماضي”.

لا تهتم بالمسببات، أو على من يقع اللوم، و من بدأ بضرب الآخر. كل ما تهتم به مجد هو أن طفلا، و قد نشرت صورته بإصابات بليغة على مدونتها، أصبح بهذا الشكل بسبب مباراة كرة قدم. “لم أتخيل أن يكون الناس على هذا القدر من الجهل إلا بعد متابعة ما حصل بالأمس”.

أما جاراد يناشد الحكومة الأردنية بأن تكون أكثر شفافية في نشر نتائج تحقيق العنف الحاصل ، لكي لا يوصف الأردن بالتمييز ضد الفلسطينيين في وسائل الإعلام الدولية  مشيرا الى مقال الصحفي جمال حلبي في ال Associated Press الذي تناقلته الصحف الدولية بسرعة و منها الواشنطن بوست و الذي فيه الكثير من الأغاليط، كما يصفها جاراد. “يوصف الأردن دائما كبلد مقسم لقسمين: العشائر الأردنية و الأردنيين من الأصل الفلسطيني و كل هذا بسبب اخفاق الحكومة بالتحدث عن هذه المواضيع بصراحة…معتقدين آن المشكلة تختفي إن لم يتم تناولها”

يدعو نسيم الى وضع الأحداث بإطارها الأكبر و بدء حوار وطني عن موضوع و أزمة الهوية الأردنية. “إذا كان هناك أي وقت مناسب لفك سلاسل المحرمات عن الهوية فهذه هي اللحظة المناسبة…فهذه المسألة ، هذا الحديث الصامت هو موجة متصاعدة في المحيط ليست قادرة على شيء سوى الدمار الهائل. وفي نهاية اليوم ، فإنه يقع على عاتق الدولة اتخاذ إجراءات وعلى قيادتنا أن..تقود…ليس بالشعارات…بل بالإعتراف الصريح و الحوار.”

Use your imagination: it’s June 2026, and the Jordanian football team is participating in the World Cup for the first time ever! They are playing in the “group of death” alongside World Champions Germany, Argentina, and African Champions Cameroon. More than that, Jordanians are super lucky, for this World Cup is taking place very close to home, in Egypt! What will be the situation in Jordan during that summer? Most Jordanians will probably have been saving for a year, and will take a two-week break from work to flock to Egypt by the thousands. For the rest who can’t make it to Egypt, there will be a national holiday on every day that the team plays, so people can support their team, who has finally fulfilled “the Jordanian Dream”. Support banners and ads will take over the streets, radio and TV stations, and every other possible location. No matter what the result, we’re proud of our country!

Now let’s go back to reality, where this scene has “almost” happened, with a few modifications. Time: this summer. Location: Turkey (also pretty close and easy to travel to without a VISA). Sport: Basketball (not the world’s top-watched as in football, but somewhere close to the top*). The most important difference, however, is that less than 50% of Jordanians had known about the Basketball World Cup before it started**, an even smaller number cared to watch Jordan’s matches on TV, and I have yet to meet in person people who have taken the initiative to go to Kaysari and watch the games live. Of course, there are people who did go, but compared to how huge this event is, the number would surely be pathetic.

I am not going to go around playing the blame game (there’s no federation to put the blame on anyway). I just want to write my observations on our national team’s short participation in the World Cup, taking into account the tough circumstances they went through during the past year. I need to warn you first that I am no expert on basketball (football is my favorite sport); the last time I was an enthusiastic follower of the basketball league was during school days, back when names like Nasser Bassam and Fadi Saqqa (to mention a few) were idols, though I kept following international basketball from a distance. So please bear in mind that this text is a highly subjective blabber from the point of view of a Jordanian who watched each second of every game Jordan played with huge excitement and total support.

Musa Alwadi in the game against Germany

The big picture: I was surprised (positively). I expected worse. I was dreading the moment when our guys would play against NBA and EUROBASKET players. But these guys were up to it. Although they finished last of their tough group (with world’s #1 ranked Argentina, #5 ranked Serbia, African champions Angola, in addition to Australia and Germany), I thought they fought a good fight and gave a good impression, with some players hopefully getting international attention. They made teams such as Australia and Argentina suffer to beat them, with a one-point loss to Australia (their opening match in which they were ahead most of the time) and a 9-point difference against Argentina, with the difference getting to as little as 3 points at one time in the game. Our worst game was against Serbia with a frustrating 43 point difference. To think that a team which has not played a local league during the past year posed a threat to these big names, we should be proud. The English commentator even apologized for the Jordanian fans for having said that Argentina will probably beat Jordan with a huge point difference. The underdogs of the tournament were not an easy team to beat. Had these players been given more attention and support locally, I believe they would have made it to second round and further.

Some of the negative aspects, in my opinion, were the many fouls committed (98 in total in 5 games), though the team managed to focus more on avoiding that in their last two matches; the loss of many free throws; and most importantly the shooting: The team manages a great defense, blocks the ball, gives a great rebound and a quick offense, but then shoots the ball outside the net! These were the most frustrating moments for me. Another thing I noticed was that no player was in one constant form during all games. Most players played brilliantly in some games and terribly in others (On the positive side, the element of surprise was never absent). My opinion about the players individually goes as follows: I particularly enjoyed watching Zaid Abbaas and Mousa Alwadi, with some great unexpected moves. Ayman Idais (32 years) surprised me, especially in the game against Argentina (I really hadn’t thought the older gang was still fit for playing).  Wright was pretty good but almost abandoned scoring in the last game compared to his first, so I was disappointed. I wasn’t impressed by Doughlas until the last game against Germany in which he scored a lot, but I think that he equaled his good moments with his bad ones. Enver’s 3 pointers in the last game almost made me forget that he was invisible in the previous ones. Zaid Al-Khas, the team’s captain, didn’t do much worthy of that title, and backed this with many fouls, a bad temper, and a few “travels”. Coach Palma’s fits of anger were fun to watch. The rest did not leave a strong impression on me.

My favorite two moments in Jordan’s episode of this tournament were hearing the crowds cheer loudly for Jordan in their last game, and the three-pointer scored by Hussein in the last minute of the last game, which was his first minute of play in the whole championship (the look on his face after he scored was priceless) :)

I believe this tournament has put Jordan on the map of International Basketball, and has fulfilled (except for Serbia’s game) one of the team’s goals described earlier by captain Al-Khas in an interview with JO magazine last May:

“We don’t want to go there and get blown out by 40 to 50 points. We want to go there and compete. We want to try and get a surprise here and there”.

I am proud. I want to be supporting Jordan next world cup live from Spain :)

* Interesting piece of information based on SPORTINGO: The world’s most popular team sport is football, followed by cricket, and basketball comes in third place.
** This is not a number out of a study. I invented it based on my observations of the people around me. My belief is that it’s even less

Courtesy of AmmanNet

وفرت ثورة الاتصالات، بما أحدثته من تغيرات تكنولوجية، فرصة نادرة لكثير من الأردنيين لمتابعة فريقهم المفضل الذي يتنافس للحصول على كأس العالم.

وللمرة الثانية في ثماني سنوات، حُرم مشجعو كرة القدم في الأردن، من متعة مشاهدة مباريات كأس العالم هذا العام على شاشات التلفزيون الأردني.

قد تكون مشاهدة المباريات متوفرة للأردنيين، ولكن ليس من دون رسوم. فمن أجل مشاهدة مباريات كأس العالم أنت تحتاج إلى صحن للأقمار الصناعية، وكذلك إلى بطاقة خاصة يتم شراؤها من قناة الجزيرة الرياضية التي امتلكت الحقوق الحصرية للمباريات في العالم العربي.

فيما حاول سمو ولي عهد الأردن التخفيف من المشكلة من خلال توفير شاشات ضخمة في مواقع رئيسية في جميع أنحاء البلاد. وكل من كان على استعداد للذهاب إلى أحد المطاعم أو الأماكن العامة الأخرى التي تقدم المشروبات والطعام كان باستطاعته أيضاً مشاهدة مباريات كأس العالم.

ومع ذلك، فإن عددا كبيرا من المشجعين الأردنيين ظلوا غير قادرين على متابعة المباريات. ووسط هذا الفراغ من البث الأرضي، تدخلت محطة إذاعية محلية في الأردن وهي “راديو البلد” وبدأت تبث التعليق على المباريات، في غضون فترة زمنية قصيرة، تمتعت المحطة بجمهور هائل من المستمعين، من سائقي سيارات الأجرة ورجال الشرطة والمتسوقين في محلات السوبرماركت المحلية والأفراد والجماعات الذين تحجب عنهم طبيعة عملهم المشاهدة أو لا يمكنهم الحصول على البث المشفر.

لقد حاول البعض إيجاد طرق مبدعة في البحث عن البث الدولي للمباريات، والبعض الآخر استخدم البث من بعض الدول الأوروبية لمشاهدة المباريات، كاتمين الصوت في جهاز التلفزيون ومستمعين إلى تعليق الإذاعة المحلية.

وقد أظهرت الصور المرسلة من قبل مجموعة من الشباب الذين كانوا يشاهدون المباريات كيف يستخدمون البث الإذاعي من خلال الهاتف المحمول المتصل بسماعات كبيرة ليستمعوا إلى التعليق بينما يشاهدون المباريات على شاشة التلفزيون من محطات غير محطة الجزيرة التي لا تتطلب رسوماً.

لم يدم البث الإذاعي للمباريات طويلاً إذ زار محامي الجزيرة الرياضية المحطة الإذاعية وأصروا على وقف فوري للبث المأخوذ عن تلفزيونهم. مدير راديو البلد ، محمد أبو عرقوب، قدم للمحامي نسخ عن الرسائل الإلكترونية والعديد من الفاكسات التي أرسلت إلى قناة الجزيرة في الدوحة قبل أشهر طالبين شراء حقوق البث من دون أي رد إيجابي أو سلبي.

في غياب بث تعليق قناة الجزيرة وبوجود جمهور أردني متعطش لمتابعة المباريات، استمر أصحاب المحطات في البحث عن البديل وأخيراً تم العثور على بديل واحد إذ استطاعت محطة إذاعية في رام الله بالضفة الغربية، تأمين طريق خاص اخترقت من خلاله النظام.

وكان “راديو الأجيال” وهو محطة إذاعية تجارية فلسطينية، قد خلق هجيناً من نوع ما وتمكن من الحصول على صوت المباريات من جنوب أفريقيا وتعاونوا مع صحفي رياضي استعد لمشاهدة المباريات والتعليق عليها من استوديوهات رام الله مع الأصوات المختلفة الصادرة من الملاعب في جنوب أفريقيا.

وبعد اتصالات هاتفية قليلة، وافقت الإذاعة الفلسطينية أن يتم بث تعليقها في الأردن، ولم يتمكن الفنيون في وادي صقرة في عمان، من التقاط إشارات الراديو الفلسطيني لكنهم نجحوا في الحصول على إشارة الإنترنت. وبعد أن فاتهم بعض المباريات بسبب منع قناة الجزيرة أصبح الأردنيون مرة أخرى قادرين على متابعة مباريات كأس العالم الآن وحتى المباريات النهائية.

تبقى مشكلة واحدة فقط ألا وهي أن البث من جنوب أفريقيا إلى فلسطين ثم التقاط البث بالانترنت في الأردن يعني أن بث المباريات الموسع في الإذاعة في عمان يسبب تأخير مدته ثلاث دقائق، وهذا يعني أن على أي شخص يرغب في مشاهدة المباريات على التلفزيون وسماع التعليق الإذاعي أن ينتظر حوالي ثلاث دقائق بعد رؤية تسديد هدف ليسمع كلمة جووووووووووووووول

في مباراة الافتتاح انقسم اصدقائي والناس في الشارع الرياضي الشعبي مابين مبتهج لجمال حفل الافتتاح وروعة التنظيم ومابين متلهف على حدث انتظره منذ ان كان اصغر بأربع سنين .

كانت الآمال والاحلام في الحصول على لقطة من هنا او نظرة من هناك تطفئء قليلا من من الظما والوله للحدث العالمي خاصة ان غالبية الشعب الاردني من الطبقة الفقيرة فقرا مدقعا، فكان التجمع عند بقالة الاستاذ مهنا ماكان متفقا عليه لان اشتراك الجزيرة باهظ الثمن واثقل من سعر خبز لمدة اشهر لعائلة مكونه من خمسة اشخاص . ومجموعة اخرى اتجهت الى مقهى واخرى تجمعت عند محمود وهو يستخدم الشيرنج “sharing” عن طريق النت يعني هو متميز والعين عليه.

لكن المفاجاة الغير متوقعة والتي اذهلت الفقراء وامتعظ منها اولئك القادرون على الاشتراك في كرت الجزيرة الا وهي ان الافتتاح واول مبارتين كانتا بالمجان ومفتوحة على القنوات الغير مشفرة. فرح الجميع في كل المنطقة واتفع صوت المذيع للمباراة فوق صوت اي شيء وكأن المنطقة خلت من اهلها نعم انه الحدث المنتظر وبالمجان لكن لليوم الاول فقط.

كانت المباراة الافتتاحية باهتة في نظر الجميع كما جرت مباريات الافتتاح دائما وايضا لم يكن الفريقان من اصحاب القاعدة الجماهيرية حتى عربيا حيث ان جنوب افريقيا الدولة المستضيفة والمكسيك لعبا وكانهما خارجتان من سبات عميق وكان الاداء باهتا وغير مستساغ وكأنها ليست كرة قدم وانما مسرح كلاسيكي صامت.

انتهت المباراة بالتعادل الايجابي واحد للكل والمهم في الموضوع ان الناس فرحوا بالبث المجاني المؤقت حتى لو لم يلعب احد المهم انهم كسبوا بثا دونما تكلفة وهذا في نظر الشباب وحتى ذويهم قمة السعادة.

ايضا كانت المباراة الثانية بين فرنسا صاحبة الاداء المخيب والاورغواي من امريكا الجنوبية وكلتا الدولتين من مدرستين وقارتين مختلفتين واللافت في الموضوع ان فرنسا لعبت بروح انهزامية وكانت الثانية تبادلها الانهزامية بلعب ميت فخرج الفريقان مكتفيان بالتعادل السلبي الذي خيب آمال الشباب المناصرين لفرنسا والذين كانوا يتوقعون الافضل منها خاصة عندما استعادوا ذكريات زين الدين زيدان ورأوه في المنصة الرئيسية حاضرا للمباراة وقالوا ان لسان حاه يقول يا رتني ما اعتزلت وما شفتكوا بتلعبوا هيك.

Mexico prepare themselves for the World Cup opener against South Africa at Soccer City in Johannesburg. Photograph: Themba Hadebe/AP

Written by Ramsey Tesdell

It’s been a year coming. One year ago I sat in front of my glowing LCD laptop, choose cities, matches, and dates indiscriminately. We didn’t even know the teams yet, but I was sure I was going. And it didn’t matter which teams.

A year later, I’ve begun a trip that will last roughly three more weeks. I left Amman for Cairo three days ago, and tonight the destination is Johannesburg.  With many details left to figure out, such as housing and transport, this may prove to be an adventure of a lifetime.

South Africa has had more than its fair share of attention, from evictions of local populations, to accusations of unpreparedness, to local acts trying to reclaim the African continent’s first Soccer World Cup’s identity. While Shakira is a star musician, maybe it would have been more appropriate for Africa’s world cup to have an African artist? Who am I to say?

Aside from the politics of such a large event, of course there will be disagreements, but rarely are the rights of the poor and the minority protected. Many injustice and inhumane actions are done in the name of providing a good image to the millions of  first time visitors to the country.

Just as with the Olympics in Canada this last year, and every major event before it, the image is more important than the rights of the people living there.

And now on tto the real reason all these controversies popped up; the beautiful game of football/soccer/futbol/etc.A game of skill, power, technique, intelligence, and a lot of pure luck.

I’ve been asked about 50 thousand times who I support. And well, I’ve always liked to support the underdog. Sweet, poetic justice is served when the former colonial power get knocked on the head by the former colonial subjects.

So this year, I’ll stick to my guns and support a team, no longer the underdog, that I’ve support since I first became interested in soccer: Spain. The current European champions and quite possibly the most powerful and skilled side at the tournament, have the best odds of winning.

But the World Cup is always about odds and skill. Emotion and luck plays a large part of it. And that is why I pick El Trio to be a surprise champion this year. One of the best sides they’ve put together in years, the young guns of Mexico are ready to show off their exciting and dangerous style in the opening match.

After rightly ditching Sven-Goran Eriksson midway through qualifying, Javier Aquirre resurrected the campaign and brought new life into the squad. He’s put together an ensemble worthy of a some hardware.

It will be an interesting Cup this year, not least for the location. But it seems many squads this year are coming to the peak performance at the right time. Argentina, England, Portugal, Ivory Coast, Holland, and others have brought talented and dangerous squads.

Retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu makes a speech
Photograph: Hassan Ammar/AP

For more info and up-to-the-minute coverage check out this sources:

Watch for free

The Guardian (some of the best commentary and coverage around)

BBC

ESPN

Kooora

Also, vote for the man of the match here:

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/awards/manofthematch/index.html

أين تنوي أن تتابع المباريات؟ ما هو في رأيك أفضل موقع لمتابعتها؟ من سوف تشجع ولماذا؟ كيف تغير جو متابعة كأس العالم مع دخول التغطية الحصرية وعدم إتاحة المباريات على القنوات المجانية؟ في بريطانيا هنالك مقترح قانون يضمن إتاحة عرض المباريات للجميع. هل تعتقد أن الأردن والدول العربية عليها وبإمكانها تطبيق قانون مشابه؟

إذا كنت تنوي متابعة مباريات كأس العالم وتشعر بأن لديك تعليقا أو ملاحظة أو تغطية مختلفة تود أن تشاركها، انضم إلى فريق حبر لكأس العالم. نحن نبحث عن أشخاص يمكنهم تقييم الأماكن المختلفة التي تعرض فيها المباريات وتغطية الظواهر المحلية المرتبطة بالبطولة. إذا كنت مهتما بالكتابة والتحليل أو التقاط الصور والفيديو أرسل لنا بريدا الكترونيا.
حبر ستتواجد أيضا في موقع الحدث في جنوب إفريقيا لذا تابعونا لمعرفة ما قد يحمله لنا مراسلنا من قلب الاستاد.

The 2010 World Cup is just around the corner, with the first game between hosts, South Africa and Mexico kicking off on June 11th in Johannesburg, South Africa. Held in Africa for the first time ever, this year’s WC has been one of the most anticipated tournaments in history. Here in Jordan, preparations are in full steam with street vendors selling flags of your favorite teams, and cafes and special World Cup tents ready to host all those who did not buy a subscription to Al-Jazeera Sports channels.

Where are you going to watch the games? Where in your opinion is the best place to watch? Which team are you supporting, and why? How has Al Jazeera Sports’ exclusive rights over the matches changed the dynamics of watching the World Cup? In the UK, there is a law on the books that ensures that matches are accessible to all. Can and should Jordan and other Arab countries do something similar?

If you’re planning to watch the games and feel that you have something original and interesting to say about them, we want you to be a part of our World Cup team. If you are interested in reviewing places to watch the games, covering local happenings around the tournament, taking pictures and video, and writing commentary – political, cultural, sports, etc. – about the World Cup, drop us a line.

7iber will also have on the ground commentary from South Africa, so keep an eye out on this space for what the crazy 7iberarian in the middle of the stadium crowds will send in.

(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Written by Khalid Jabaly

This month we witnessed a milestone in the history of Middle Eastern sport as Egypt and Algeria locked sides for their last chance at qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, resulting in the birth of one of the most heated rivalries in the history of football in the Middle East. A lot of blood, sweat and tears was shed only to see Algeria qualify to the grand stage and Egypt fall back to where they struggled from. The build up to this match was one of the most heated and anticipated build ups in the history of Middle Eastern football, an indicator that the sport is moving forward within the region, as the beauty of football is reflected through the colors, the cultures and the philosophies behind both nations’ social aspects, additionally, the violence that took place prior to the match was a serious indicator of how the game is being appreciated and a reflection of the public’s passion towards their teams, something rare to see in the Middle East, and whether you agree or not, violence is a part of what makes this game so beautiful to watch.

Let’s take a look at Football’s most notable rivalries, starting off with the Classico; a rivalry that revolved around principles and spirit where the Catalans stood up to the Fascist regime of Franco, as the likes of Kubala and Di Stephano defended their principles alongside their partners to rise on top of their conflict, backed up by the support of their fans who never failed to cheer and jeer. Lets also take a look at the War that takes place in Rome between Lazio, the elite of the society, and Roma, the working class team that fought for their rights and expressed their philosophies through football, let’s also take a look at the most recent rivalry in Manchester, where a team stood united for so many years achieving endless achievements and the other struggled with its citizens until money was injected from the UAE, where the question of integrity and history came into place, as money can’t buy trophies. Lets even take a closer look at what we have in the Middle East where Al Ahli and Al Zamalek have been fighting for so many years to prove who is to be the most valuable and the most dominant, same with Jordan, however, politics took the rivalry into another direction where both teams represented neighboring nations; one represented by their people and the other represented by their refugees. A lot of rivalries in football have taken place, and they are all justified with reason and backed up with violence when provoked; unlike this rivalry between Algeria and Egypt where violence was provoked over the lack of sportsmanship and the lack of respect and over something the game guarantees: winning and losing.

There is no doubt that during the past four years, players from both nations gained international recognition from football fans and from world class teams, as many of those players were recruited for their services; sadly enough they never maintained consistency. Let’s take a few examples; Not so long ago, Amr Zaki was the most talked about striker in the Premier league, scoring 10 goals in the first two to three weeks of the season, and rumors started spreading around that Real Madrid were considering a move for him and all this hype was flushed down the toilet the minute his head became too big to carry and decided not to go to trainings and fight with his manager along fellow unprofessional act, Mido, by the end of the season they were both labeled as ‘the most unprofessional players to ever deal with’ by Steve Bruce. If we even go a few years back, specifically to 2006, Mido pulled off his infamous rant and refused to get off the pitch when he was subbed by his manager Hassan Shehata during the Semi final bout against Ivory Coast in the African Cup, nevertheless, he never failed to impress with his unprofessionalism furthermore, as he went off form the following season after having millions invested in him. Later he joined Birmingham city only to claim that he was bigger than the club and failed to turn to training several times resulting in his shipment to Middlesborough, and later to Wigan where alongside Zaki pulled off great unprofessional gigs. Another player, who held a lot of potential, was Hussam Ghali; a person who won Al Ahli’s game against a full throttle Real Madrid during their galacticos era, managed to act amazingly unprofessional when he disrespectfully threw the Tottenham shirt to the floor on his way to the bench after playing 20 minutes of horrible football. The story doesn’t end here, as most recently, Hadary, the best goalkeeper in the history of the Middle East, managed to find it in his heart to turn his back to the fans and to his team mates at al Ahli when he decided to play for a Swiss side without any notice. These are the most notable stories from the most notable Arab football stars.

Let’s take a look at Algerians playing abroad, I can’t find any names who committed severe acts of unprofessionalism, maybe this is due to the notable Algerian figures who came across the world of football, such as Rabah Madjer, who participated in two world cup qualifiers in addition to playing a major role in winning the European cup for Porto. Later, a man with an Algerian decent was labeled as the greatest player to have ever dribbled the ball, Zidane, who must have been a great role model for Algerians all over the world on so many levels, especially after winning so many individual and team titles and being recognized as one of France’s most notable figures. Put aside his infamous head butt in the 2006 world cup final, the guy always impressed whenever he was on and off the pitch where he gave hope to many individuals and was a reason behind a lot of great talent to evolve after him such as Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri and Frank RIbery, who are impressing in the same way he did back in the days.

Maybe such role models gave them discipline in their profession, but only to a certain extent, as we Arabs are more attracted to controversy and we love inheriting corrupt genes and thoughts as the Algerian team forgot all about Zidane and his great contributions and decided to travel back twenty years in time and decided to live up to the reputation of their most capped player, Lakhdar Belloumi, who rallied a rumble against Egyptian supporters leaving an Egyptian doctor seriously injured. Later he became subject to an international arrest warrant which was only lifted in April 2009 after interference from President Bouteflika, only a few months later a huge divergence erupted as we are witnessing it now.

As predicted, violence exploded after the game; a completely normal reaction to any passionate football fan who cheered for his country; however, unpredictable events have been taking place.

Who would have ever thought that Algerian authorities would take a national decision of banning Egyptian media in their country, or that members of the Egyptian media would call for the death of Algerian fans, however, the ultimate unpredictable factor of all is the speech President Mubarak carried issuing indirect threats to Algeria …. One can only wonder how much further the envelope could be pushed.

Let’s take a look at the issue from a fan’s perspective.

After months of anticipation, you only think that you are finally guaranteed an answer to the question of who will be travelling to South Africa, only to see Egypt equalizing points and goals and taking the game to Sudan following a series of dramatic action where the Algerian team was attacked by Egyptian supporters, taking revenge to what Belloumi and co did to them 20 years ago. Later that week and after a devastating loss, Algeria managed to secure their place at South Africa, during a match that was full of drama. As Egyptian fans were crying for their loss, an Army of Sudanese soldiers filled the pitch to prevent any acts of violence, meanwhile, Algerian goalkeeper decided to copy Hadary’s signature celebration by waving his hands to the spectators while sitting on top of the goal posts, which must have provoked the Egyptian fans straight away resulting in friction that would later provoke the Algerians and start somewhat of a war in Sudan, and the rest is history.

Personally and as a huge football fan, I understand the frustrations and the acts of both sets of fans, as one had so much hope for their team who won the last two African cups and produced world class football at the confederations cup in preparation to this one match and the other side who were unwanted by the majority of the Arab fans but still made it and secured tickets to South Africa and are simply repaying the bias attitude most Arab fans held against them by releasing all the frustration towards the team and the nation favored by the region. ..

…However, violence in football is one thing, and being unable to handle the consequences is another thing.

Let’s take another look at history and what it tells us, in 1989, 96 Liverpool and Nottingham forest fans died and many disgraceful things took place during this event as Liverpool fans were spotted urinating on the dead bodies of Nottingham forest fans. Furthermore, in 2000, English fans rallied in violence in the streets if Brussels only for losing their spot at the tournament. Moreover, fans of Barcelona acted furiously after years of waiting for Figo’s return to the Camp Nou when they threw anything they got their hands on, including a head of a piglet. All those events were taken care of from the football officials, where the English team was banned for so many tournaments and the Camp Nou was closed for a certain period of time … There are officials that are supposed to take action and threaten the well being of the sport for certain fan groups, but never, a President went to carry on a speech that would threaten the relationship between two countries, last time this happened a war between El Salvadore and Handoras blew up and this is the last thing we need as a region, another internal conflict over something that we are supposed to support each other for, and if we are not able to deal with the consequences football holds, then we simply do not deserve it.

Read More:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/8382726.stm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/nov/07/algeria-egypt-world-cup-football
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/13/egypt-and-algeria-brace-for-match-of-hate-sequel/
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/11/12/algeria-egypt-online-feud-over-football-match/
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1133115.html#egypt+algeria+media+statement
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2004/08/how-soccer-explains-world
http://bikyamasr.com/?p=5777
http://www.almasry-alyoum.com/article2.aspx?ArticleID=233594

Rakan, 26

“I would like to watch the Olympics, but I don’t have the time. No, I work. I don’t have the time neither night nor day.” – Rakan, 26

“بحب اتابع بس مش فاضي. لا لأنه بشتغل مخلص جمرك، ولا بفضى ولا ليل و لا نهار.” – ركان, 26 سنة

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Hazem, 22

“I only watch swimming. I don’t know, but so far I have not seen Jordan at all. I don’t think people are watching the Olympics because, currently, everyone is busy working.” – Hazem, 22

“بس بتابع سباحة. الأردن؟ والله ما بعرف. بس ما حضرتلهم ولا واحدة. يعني ما كان في ولا بني أدم أردني.” – حازم، 22 سنة

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Ali, 24

“If I was home, and watching TV, I watch the Olympics. I watch those who are jumping in water, that was interesting. I just like to watch sports. [On Jordan in the Olympics] I think yes, I was watching a report that they never won anything!” – Ali, 24

“بحضر اذا كنت قاعد بالبيت و بحضر TV بحط! بس هيك, كنت عم بحضر ريبورتاج انه ما عمره فاز بشي!” – علي, 24 سنة

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Tareq, 25

“There is no time, this is why I don’t watch. I would watch football, swimming. Jordan is participating in taekwondo, horseback riding and swimming.” – Tareq, 25

“.والله لأنة ما في وقت كتير و مو فاضيين فما عم بحضر. اكتر اشي كرة القدم، و السباحة. مشاركة بالتايكواندو و الفروسية و بالسباحة”

طارق, 25 سنة

When you ask football fans around the world who are some of their favorite teams, Jordan doesn’t usually make the list. But with a strong performance in Canada, the Jordanian national football team, playing in their first ever FIFA international tournament turned a few heads.

A full house was on hand in Burnaby’s Swangard Stadium as Jordan made history with their first ever FIFA U-20 World Cup point, after drawing a strong Zambian team 1-1 on Sunday 1 July in the opening game of Group B. Jordan fought through an early red card to earn a well-deserved tie against Zambia, a team laden with players from the French league.

The Jordanians then continued their tournament by frustrating Uruguay before going down 1-0 that could have easily ended 1-1.

Jordan, in impressive form frustrated the Latin American giants with their defending spirit and attacking hunger. Needless to say, it felt as if the nerves kicked in as shot after shot smashed off the post rather than going in the back of the net.

The upset against Spain, which many hoped for, never came. But after a showcase of talent, the Jordanian players were able to display their homegrown skills. Of the 21 players on the roster, all play in Jordan.

“It’s the wish of every player all over the world to be in a FIFA event,” said forward Mohammad Omar. “The whole country was delighted when we qualified for Canada.”

“We will fight to get the three points (need to reach the next round) also we will do our best to play good football for our fans at home and our good friends here in Canada,” said Baniyaseen.

Abdallah Salim was overjoyed after scoring Jordan’s first and historic goal in a FIFA tournament.

“Immediately after scoring, two thoughts came into my head: one was that this was the first goal Jordan had ever scored at a World Cup, and two that it was compensation for the red card and penalty that had been given against us, unjustly in my opinion, at the start of the game,” says the 19-year-old.

Salim has been playing his football for Jordanian outfit Al Wahdat since the age 11, but it is only in the last three seasons that he has been training with the first team squad.

In an interview given to Canada.com before the tournament began, Jordan’s coach, Jan Poulsen said that his team is facing an uphill battle on and off the pitch. He said they are also playing against many misconceptions held of Jordan.

Poulsen has been the coach of Jordan’s youth program since 2006 and has helped many countries reach a level many didn’t expect. Jordan’s team sent ripples through youth international soccer’s circuit by shocking China and advancing to the World Cup at the expense of China.

Jordan is the adopted home for many of the region’s refugees from Occupied Palestine and Iraq and lacks many of the financial resources available to Gulf Arab countries.

Poulson also said that language and cultural barriers pose challenges to his work. He speaks no Arabic and few of his players speak English, let alone Danish. So his assistant coaches interpret.

“To me, this is the most difficult assignment that I’ve had because of the language and the culture,” said Poulsen, who figures that Jordanian soccer was 10 years behind the Asian programs when he took over last year. “They’re completely different cultures and we train under very difficult circumstances. To me (reaching this tournament) is one of the great moments in my coaching career.”

Click for more pictures.

Pictures and Quotes provided by FIFA.com and Canada.com