"Ramadan affected World Cup" : Egypt FA boss

[hadi123]

The Egypt Football Association (EFA) president Hany Abo Rida says that fasting ahead of the World Cup affected the Pharaoh's campaign in Russia.

The squad chose to fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that ended the day before Egypt's opening game.

Egypt lost all of its group games to Uruguay,hosts Russia and Saudi Arabia.

"It affected us badly, I talked with them before world cup but they refused (to break their fasting)," Abo Rida said.

"We ended Ramadan one day before Uruguay but the fasting affected them."

Abo Rida added: "I can assure, many Arabian countries made their players break their fasting."

He says the EFA has begun its search for a new coach to replace Hector Cuper, who left his role as coach after the failure in Russia.

However he insisted that they have not tried recruit Morocco's French coach Herve Renard.

"I know he (Renard) is under contract with Morocco, so we will not talk about him, but if he ended his contract or become free sure I would start negotiations with him to lead Pharaohs." he said.

Egypt are yet to win a game at its three appearances at the World Cup and now switch their attention to qualifying for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

The seven-time African champions, who were runners-up in 2017, began their 2019 campaign with a 1-0 loss to Tunisia.

The Pharaohs next Nations Cup qualifier is against visiting Niger in September.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44641457

 

[Major]

ahh, your own priorities affected the world cup.

Stupid comments.

You knew the world cup schedule before hand.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

This can result in a long debate.

On one hand,everyone should be ensuring that they give their 100% in each game.They cannot give their best if their body is used to fasting.It’s not professional.

On the other hand,fasting is a personal choice.Each player should be able to do as they want.It’s their choice if they want to keep a fast or not.Some players may have been wary of backlash if they didn’t fast.

 

[enkidu_]

The first major armed confrontation of the prophet (s) and his companions against the pagans of Mecca was the battle of Badr, during Ramadan. The conquest of Mecca happened during Ramadan as well.

Tariq Ibn Zayyed killed King Roderic, and thus basically winning Al Andalus, during Ramadan, and Salah-ud-Deen took back Jerusalem during Ramadan. The famous battle of Ayn Jalut, where Baibars' Mamluks defeated the Mongols and thus halting their westward expansion into the Arab-Islamic world, was also secured during Ramadan.

There are just few instances of Muslims using their body to the fullest - war/battle - during Ramadan, which is not the month of leisure but that of heightened asceticism and angelic presence, which doesn't mean to battle against your body, but to dismember your nafs and thus overcoming your bodily limits.

So this is a poor deflection, but not unexpected in Sissi's Egypt, and when Muslims will rose again against the tyrants they'll talk of terrorism.

 

[Major]

This can result in a long debate.

On one hand,everyone should be ensuring that they give their 100% in each game.They cannot give their best if their body is used to fasting.It’s not professional.

On the other hand,fasting is a personal choice.Each player should be able to do as they want.It’s their choice if they want to keep a fast or not.Some players may have been wary of backlash if they didn’t fast.

Players need set their priorities right.

If they want to fast, then ok do that and sit out of the national team.

There are alot of stakeholders involved. If a particular thinf is affecting your performance then its better not to do that simple.

 

[Abdullah719]

This is all a distraction.

There are political things that have impacted Egypt's World Cup, but obviously the FA wouldn't want to discuss that.

 

[Abdul]

This is all a distraction.

There are political things that have impacted Egypt's World Cup, but obviously the FA wouldn't want to discuss that.

Do you support Egypt in Football?

 

[Mamoon]

The first major armed confrontation of the prophet (s) and his companions against the pagans of Mecca was the battle of Badr, during Ramadan. The conquest of Mecca happened during Ramadan as well.

Tariq Ibn Zayyed killed King Roderic, and thus basically winning Al Andalus, during Ramadan, and Salah-ud-Deen took back Jerusalem during Ramadan. The famous battle of Ayn Jalut, where Baibars' Mamluks defeated the Mongols and thus halting their westward expansion into the Arab-Islamic world, was also secured during Ramadan.

There are just few instances of Muslims using their body to the fullest - war/battle - during Ramadan, which is not the month of leisure but that of heightened asceticism and angelic presence, which doesn't mean to battle against your body, but to dismember your nafs and thus overcoming your bodily limits.

So this is a poor deflection, but not unexpected in Sissi's Egypt, and when Muslims will rose again against the tyrants they'll talk of terrorism.

During Badr, angels were sent from the heavens to fight alongside the Muslims. It appears that the Egyptian players were not granted the same luxury, not even in one game, which is why they lost all three matches.

The conquest of Makkah was more of a glorious return home with the inglorious people surrendering to the might of Islam, so I am not sure if it is a relevant example of using your body to the fullest during Ramzaan.

Besides, people of that time were used to those hardships - they were battled-hardened desert bedouins who were born and raised in scorching deserts and were used to traveling for hours with little provisions. Moreover, they were the first believers in Islam and the strength of their faith was unparalleled.

They were people of the Prophet and were Muslims because they chose to be so, and not because they were lucky to be born into a Muslim family. They weren't Muslims by fluke, which we are.

Modern day people have not been exposed to such harsh environments and thus, are physically and mentally less resilient. As a result, they are much more likely to suffer due to fasting, especially when they were training to play at the World Cup of one of the most physically tiring sports.

I was on a holiday in Ramzaan and spent nearly the entire day in my house in front of an A/C, and I barely had enough energy to engage in any physical activity. Now I am not a professional athlete and obviously not as fit as the Egyptian players, but I was not able to perform the activities that I usually do. Apart from maybe a few champions of Islam who were on wings in Ramzaan, most people around me have had similar experiences in the last few Ramzaans in Pakistani summers.

 

[enkidu_]

[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] can you stop turning every thread about your petty little ego, glad that you have A/C unlike the masses you eagerly throw to the PML-Goon from the top of your humanism, and yes you're certainly no Muslim hero, and perhaps the polar opposite, but the point was that using Ramadan as an excuse for their performances is intellectually disingenuous, and many of the glorious feats of Islam happened exactly during Ramadan, involving "physical work" to say the least.

 

[Abdullah719]

Do you support Egypt in Football?

Sure. Obviously I have some attachment to the country and the team still.

Very disappointed at their World Cup display though, and disgusted at the politics at play.

 

[Mamoon]

[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] can you stop turning every thread about your petty little ego, glad that you have A/C unlike the masses you eagerly throw to the PML-Goon from the top of your humanism, and yes you're certainly no Muslim hero, and perhaps the polar opposite, but the point was that using Ramadan as an excuse for their performances is intellectually disingenuous, and many of the glorious feats of Islam happened exactly during Ramadan, involving "physical work" to say the least.

I don't know what my ego has to do with this - I gave you three reasons why your examples were irrelevant and why it is condescending to say that is "poor deflection", when you are (I assume) not a professional athlete and don't have to train for the biggest sporting event in the world while fasting, competing against other professionals who did not go 12 hours without food and water.

Let me summarize the three reasons again:

(1) In Badr, angels descended from the heavens to fight alongside the ramzaan-stricken Muslims. I am sure if the same luxury was provided to the Egyptian players, they would have performed better.

(2) The people of that time were physically much more robust and rugged because of the harsh environment that lived. They were physically more capable of dealing with fasting. Today, the vast majority of people who fast are not able to do their usual business at their 100%.

In Iceland, where the fast was 22 hours long this time, a European council passed a fatwa that allowed people to break their fast after a fixed number of hours, because "fasting for 22 hours cannot be practiced." Even though, the average temperature was between 9C to 12C during June. This illustrates that modern people are not capable of fasting for long periods without affecting their performance.


(3) Their faith was much stronger because they were literally willing to give up everything for Islam, and they were Muslims by choice rather than fluke like 99% of the modern Muslims (the 1% are people who have converted to Islam).

However, it looks like you are not willing to entertain any of the three logical reasons, and are happy to dismiss the justification of the Egyptian football team from the comfort of your armchair.

 

[enkidu_]

[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] again egotic outbursts with absolutely no conclusive empirical evidences. You keep talking of angels in Badr, while I gave few of the dozens of other instances when Muslims literally went into war while fasting. You talk of the faith of "99% of modern Muslims" being "fluke", I'd like to see you become that skeptical and critical while you wax lyrical about India/Nooras, and it's ironic that you're the one to talk of armchair opinion while you have literally done nothing on here but this, and for few years. You have to look at this anti Ramadan (by the way he does say that Ramadan ended before their inaugural match) into the wider picture : Sissi's Egypt and its proxy war against the Islamic system of life.

 

[Major]

[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] again egotic outbursts with absolutely no conclusive empirical evidences. You keep talking of angels in Badr, while I gave few of the dozens of other instances when Muslims literally went into war while fasting. You talk of the faith of "99% of modern Muslims" being "fluke", I'd like to see you become that skeptical and critical while you wax lyrical about India/Nooras, and it's ironic that you're the one to talk of armchair opinion while you have literally done nothing on here but this, and for few years. You have to look at this anti Ramadan (by the way he does say that Ramadan ended before their inaugural match) into the wider picture : Sissi's Egypt and its proxy war against the Islamic system of life.

Big difference between cricket and football.

Football requires much more harsh training.

Football matches are nothing, its the traning that is hard
Cricket doesn't.

 

[Friend786]

I don't see Iran or any other muslim country complaining about it.

 

[Zaz]

the players should’ve expected this would happen

You’re at a major disadvantage straightaway if you’re fasting and playing Is it any surprise The stakeholders should’ve put their foot down and not allowed them to fast and if they wanted to then make them sit out

Losing all 3 games is an embarrassment which could’ve and should’ve been totally avoided

 

[shaz619]

[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] again egotic outbursts with absolutely no conclusive empirical evidences. You keep talking of angels in Badr, while I gave few of the dozens of other instances when Muslims literally went into war while fasting. You talk of the faith of "99% of modern Muslims" being "fluke", I'd like to see you become that skeptical and critical while you wax lyrical about India/Nooras, and it's ironic that you're the one to talk of armchair opinion while you have literally done nothing on here but this, and for few years. You have to look at this anti Ramadan (by the way he does say that Ramadan ended before their inaugural match) into the wider picture : Sissi's Egypt and its proxy war against the Islamic system of life.

I don't always agree with [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] but am not sure a retort has been provided for his 3 reasons beyond personal attacks and a couple of interesting points inbetween.

 

[James]

I don't always agree with [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] but am not sure a retort has been provided for his 3 reasons beyond personal attacks and a couple of interesting points inbetween.

Yeah, got to agree. Whilst I greatly respect the meaning and tradition of Ramadan, [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] has raised some legitimate points here that should be addressed.

 

[Mamoon]

[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] again egotic outbursts with absolutely no conclusive empirical evidences. You keep talking of angels in Badr, while I gave few of the dozens of other instances when Muslims literally went into war while fasting. You talk of the faith of "99% of modern Muslims" being "fluke", I'd like to see you become that skeptical and critical while you wax lyrical about India/Nooras, and it's ironic that you're the one to talk of armchair opinion while you have literally done nothing on here but this, and for few years. You have to look at this anti Ramadan (by the way he does say that Ramadan ended before their inaugural match) into the wider picture : Sissi's Egypt and its proxy war against the Islamic system of life.

As also noted by [MENTION=46929]shaz619[/MENTION] and [MENTION=1842]James[/MENTION], it is pretty obvious that you have attempted to deflect the points that I raised by resorting to ad hominem and bringing Nawaz Sharif and India to the table, who have no relevance to this topic.

It also does not change the fact that you were extremely judgmental in the way you dismissed the claims of the Egyptian FA, and conveniently brushed it under the carpet using Sisi's hardline stance against religious extremism, or perhaps we can call it secular authoritarianism.

It is possible that this may not have anything to do with that, and the players genuinely suffered because of fasting. However, you are completely rejecting the possibility because it doesn't conform to the narrative that you are trying to project here.

Your example. of Badr was completely irrelevant. Let's be honest - you either forgot that it is explicitly stated in the Quran that angels were sent from the heavens to assist the Muslims in the battle, or you thought that no one would bring it up to expose your ridiculous juxtaposition.

Furthermore, "heightened asceticism and angelic presence, which doesn't mean to battle against your body, but to dismember your nafs and thus overcoming your bodily limits." sounds beautiful but means absolutely nothing in practical terms.

There is a reason why you are exempted from fasting in certain circumstances, such as traveling or if you are physically not capable of surviving for hours without any provisions, and I also gave you a practical, real life example of our times, i.e. people deliberately reducing their fasting hours in Iceland because they can not cope with a 22 hour fast even in cold weather.

What lack of empirical evidence are you talking about, and what empirical evidence did you provide? Apart from making personal attacks, all you did was come up centuries old examples where the Muslims were assisted by angels and were physically much more capable of dealing with the hardships of fasting. People who were cable of traveling in the scorching heat on camels, surviving on a few dates and camel milk.

As far as my statement that the vast majority of the Muslims today are Muslims by fluke, how else would you describe it? There is a 99% chance that if you were born (I am assuming that you are a Muslim by birth) in a Christian or a Hindu family, you would be defending their religious dogmas today.

The majority of us believe in the religions of our families, and that is because we grow up believing that we are on the right path. What is the fault of a person who is born in a Christian or a Hindu family? Absolutely nothing - it is simply a matter of chance, none of us decided where and when to be born. The excuse is that we should all do our own research and decide for ourselves.

However, there are two things to consider here - when we do our research, all we are doing is indulging in confirmation bias. None of us renounced our faiths and started from scratch to find the right path to salvation, all we did was looking at ways with which we can justify Islam as the ultimate truth.

Secondly, how many of us do any research in the first place? How many Muslims around the world have ever picked up a Bible or a Vedas to see what those scriptures have to say? How many of these people have ever sat with a Priest or an authority on those religious to understand what they preach, and not just rely on Islamic propaganda?

Similar to how non-Muslim scholars do not represent Islam in an impartial way, Muslim scholars do not do justice to other religions either. If you are learning about Christianity and Hinduism from an Islamic scholar, you are not doing justice to those great religions.

Hence, the vast majority of Muslims - whatever percentage you want to assign - are Muslims purely because of a fluke. That is why I great respect for religious converts, whether they are converting to Islam or from Islam. It takes a person of extraordinary strength of character to renounce the ideology that he/she has been fed since birth and overcome their confirmation bias and predisposition to a particular religion.

 

[Varun]

The Egyptian players are clearly not as good as Hashim Amla.

 

[Braveheart]

It will be interesting to know how many of the Pakistani Cricket team Fasted during the 2017 Champions Trophy Final.

 

[finalfantasy7]

What was the fuss about salah - maybe be retiring from international duty.

Was this the same

 

[Abdullah719]

Egypt FA blames Muslim Brotherhood for poor World Cup performance, Mo Salah crisis

The head of the Egyptian football federation has blamed the poor performance of the national team during the World Cup in Russia on the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Hany Abo Rida made the comments to local news website al-Watan on Tuesday, amid accusations that star striker Mohamed Salah was used for political purposes at the tournament.

"The Brotherhood had a major role in the problems the national team faced during the World Cup, primarily regarding Salah," Abo Rida said.

Egyptian officials often blame the banned Islamist movement for various problems, without providing evidence for their claims.

Abo Rida also dismissed perceptions that 26-year-old Salah was used as a political tool while the squad was based in Chechnya.

"The football federation did not force Salah to meet with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov," he stressed.

He added that Kadyrov's political advisors had warned him that moving the team's base would negatively affect Egyptian-Russian relations, when he had voiced sponsors' concerns.

Egypt lost all three matches in Russia, crashing out of its first World Cup since 1990 and causing an outcry back home over the team's performance and the federation's management.

On Sunday, Salah gave his first public indication of his disagreement with the federation over the team's use of Chechnya as a base during the ill-fated World Cup campaign

"Some might think it's over but it isn't over. There needs to be change," Salah wrote cryptically on his Twitter account.

The Egyptian federation, particularly its chairman Hany Abo Rida, was the target of the tweet, a person close to Salah told The Associated Press on Monday.

Two federation officials said that teammates pressured Salah into attending a banquet hosted by Kadyrov for Egypt's World Cup squad.

They said Salah wanted to stay away, arguing that being seen with Kadryrov would hurt his image.

He went only after being warned that not attending could trigger a diplomatic incident between Egypt and Russia.

Recent reports that Salah is considering retiring from international play have emerged, sparking controversy.

The Egyptian government blacklisted the Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation and launched a harsh crackdown on its supporters and leaders after the ousting the country's first freely elected president Mohamed Morsi - a member of the group - in July 2013.

The crackdown has extended to other opponents of then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who was elected a year after Morsi's overthrow.

https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/n...im-brotherhood-for-poor-world-cup-performance

 

[BlueAngel]

As also noted by [MENTION=46929]shaz619[/MENTION] and [MENTION=1842]James[/MENTION], it is pretty obvious that you have attempted to deflect the points that I raised by resorting to ad hominem and bringing Nawaz Sharif and India to the table, who have no relevance to this topic.

It also does not change the fact that you were extremely judgmental in the way you dismissed the claims of the Egyptian FA, and conveniently brushed it under the carpet using Sisi's hardline stance against religious extremism, or perhaps we can call it secular authoritarianism.

It is possible that this may not have anything to do with that, and the players genuinely suffered because of fasting. However, you are completely rejecting the possibility because it doesn't conform to the narrative that you are trying to project here.

Your example. of Badr was completely irrelevant. Let's be honest - you either forgot that it is explicitly stated in the Quran that angels were sent from the heavens to assist the Muslims in the battle, or you thought that no one would bring it up to expose your ridiculous juxtaposition.

Furthermore, "heightened asceticism and angelic presence, which doesn't mean to battle against your body, but to dismember your nafs and thus overcoming your bodily limits." sounds beautiful but means absolutely nothing in practical terms.

There is a reason why you are exempted from fasting in certain circumstances, such as traveling or if you are physically not capable of surviving for hours without any provisions, and I also gave you a practical, real life example of our times, i.e. people deliberately reducing their fasting hours in Iceland because they can not cope with a 22 hour fast even in cold weather.

What lack of empirical evidence are you talking about, and what empirical evidence did you provide? Apart from making personal attacks, all you did was come up centuries old examples where the Muslims were assisted by angels and were physically much more capable of dealing with the hardships of fasting. People who were cable of traveling in the scorching heat on camels, surviving on a few dates and camel milk.

As far as my statement that the vast majority of the Muslims today are Muslims by fluke, how else would you describe it? There is a 99% chance that if you were born (I am assuming that you are a Muslim by birth) in a Christian or a Hindu family, you would be defending their religious dogmas today.

The majority of us believe in the religions of our families, and that is because we grow up believing that we are on the right path. What is the fault of a person who is born in a Christian or a Hindu family? Absolutely nothing - it is simply a matter of chance, none of us decided where and when to be born. The excuse is that we should all do our own research and decide for ourselves.

However, there are two things to consider here - when we do our research, all we are doing is indulging in confirmation bias. None of us renounced our faiths and started from scratch to find the right path to salvation, all we did was looking at ways with which we can justify Islam as the ultimate truth.

Secondly, how many of us do any research in the first place? How many Muslims around the world have ever picked up a Bible or a Vedas to see what those scriptures have to say? How many of these people have ever sat with a Priest or an authority on those religious to understand what they preach, and not just rely on Islamic propaganda?

Similar to how non-Muslim scholars do not represent Islam in an impartial way, Muslim scholars do not do justice to other religions either. If you are learning about Christianity and Hinduism from an Islamic scholar, you are not doing justice to those great religions.

Hence, the vast majority of Muslims - whatever percentage you want to assign - are Muslims purely because of a fluke. That is why I great respect for religious converts, whether they are converting to Islam or from Islam. It takes a person of extraordinary strength of character to renounce the ideology that he/she has been fed since birth and overcome their confirmation bias and predisposition to a particular religion.

Later part of your post should be pinned