CAIRO: Zamalek club members had mixed reactions to a planned demonstration against ousted Mortada Mansour’s return, but the majority were unhappy with the former Zamalek board chairman, whose membership was reinstated by a court ruling.
A Cairo court overturned Zamalek’s decision to revoke Mansour’s membership last September and informed the club that the ruling should take effect immediately.
Consequently, as a member, Mansour was eligible to run in the club board elections, due this Friday. Before the ruling, the notorious lawyer had officially documented his failed attempt to submit his nomination papers.
Mansour won another court case that enabled him to postpone the July 25 elections and gave him the right to participate in it. Without setting a date for the postponed elections, the ruling dictated that a temporary committee should run the club and manage the elections. The National Council for Sports has sanctioned the ruling.
“Mortada Mansour is a cancer that we should get rid of, said one senior club member who preferred to remain anonymous. “He ruined the club since he entered it in 1992 and the spiral of problems began, he added.
“He is happy with all this media attention and the fame he got from the club’s problems, said another member. “If we really need to compare, look at the quality of the buildings constructed by the current board and Mortada’s buildings, he added.
He pointed to the wall’s painting and said that this kind of mural is only used in cemeteries.
“I regret voting for him, said one member.
When Mansour attempted to enter the club after reinstating his members, clashes occurred between his “aides and the club’s security.
In response to these incidents, a group of club members are planning to organize a protest inside the club on Friday against “actions affecting the club’s reputation and to support the current board, which “has exerted a lot of money and effort for the sake of the club.
The initiative was welcomed by many members, while others said it is useless and it was a rally for Mamdouh Abbas, current club president.
On the other hand, some members like Magdy Hassan think that Mansour should enter the elections and let the members decide. “It was very unwise to prevent him from entering the club, they help him in making troubles, he said
“Do they want us to believe that all these conflicts are for the sake of the club? There is a lot of business going on, Magdy said. “As a member in the club, I only want a person who would offer services to me, he addedHe and other members expressed their discontent with the status the club has reached. They described it as markaz shabab, state-run youth centers notorious for their bad services, in comparison to other clubs like the Shooting Club and Ahly.
“The current board had the chance to improve things but they didn’t, one member said speaking on condition of anonymity.
Away from the club members, the club fans are organizing a protest in front of the National Sports Council to express their rejection to Mortada’s return.
A number of Facebook groups have been created opposing Mortada Mansour. One of them was Mortada’s Haters Union, which has more than 300 members.
One website, www.noMortada.tk, urges fans to sign a letter to be sent to all sport officials and President Hosni Mubarak, requesting their interference in the current situation.
Ismail Selim, a candidate for the club presidency, told Daily News Egypt that the administrative authority decision, in reference to the National Council for Sports, is obligatory to everyone.
“We have no authority to question the decision, we only have to accept it, he said
“Maybe the solution is to appoint someone and make it a dictatorship, suggested one club member.
