Confederations Cup - Egypt blame prostitute lies for exit

Eurosport - Mon, 22 Jun 22:54:00 2009

Egypt have blamed their Confederations Cup exit on media "lies" about their players consorting with prostitutes after beating world champions Italy.

FOOTBALL Confederations Cup 2009 Usa Egypt Charlie Davies - 0

Head of mission Mahmoud Taher said that the team had been stunned by local newspaper reports.

He said the team, knocked out on Sunday after losing 3-0 to the United States, had in fact been robbed at their hotel.

"The players have been really subjected to terrible damage in Egypt and they are in a very bad mood right now due to the false allegations that were published in the newspapers here," he said.

"The media have caused all this damage which we were shocked by.

"The allegations were published in the papers here on Saturday and Sunday morning and unfortunately the players heard about it from back home," he added.

"These lies started here in South Africa then they were quoted back home and this had an affect on our players.

"This was not the only reason for the defeat, we had some injuries, and some players got injuries in the match, but these were some of the reasons for the defeat."

Local media have alleged the money was not stolen but paid to "ladies of the night", with about 19,000 rand taken from the players after their shock 1-0 win over Italy in Johannesburg last Thursday.

Fikile Mbalula, a police commissioner responsible for security at the event, told an earlier news briefing that the matter was still under investigation.

He added that the police could not be responsible for people or friends invited into hotel rooms "who may not be security friendly to you."

Taher, whose delegation was leaving Johannesburg on Monday night, responded: "I am saying that no strangers, no women, no girls, nobody came to the floors or the premises of the Egyptian delegation," he said.

"We came back to our hotel and the players went to their rooms and discovered they had lost their money and their belongings.

"They complained to the reception at the hotel accompanied by our LOC (organising committee) escort who reported it to his superiors and he reported it to the police," he said.

"We thought it could be sorted out as a simple incident that can happen at any hotel. What we are answering today is what was published in the newspapers, not about the theft because the police are investigating that problem.

"We are demanding from the media protection to our players honour and dignity and the rights due to our culture in Egypt."

A spokeswoman for the South African Police Service said they were investigating the case and would not give out any details until the probe was concluded.

"The team members involved have already given SAPS detectives their statements so there would be no need for them to be interviewed or interrogated further," she added.

Local media also reported that some Brazilian players had been robbed of a "jacket and some money" from their hotel.

Reuters

Comment 1 - 18 of 18

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  1. I for one fail to understand why the South African­ Media would simply wake up on the morning after an­ African team's triumph over Italy to fabricate such­ a story against our own brother Egyptians. I would wish­ to think that the SA Media would have been in the­ forefront to celebrate and wish for a two-team African­ showing in the semis. Let's face it here­ journalists are professionals - they cannot portray­ that 'good boy'image about us when we the­ celebrities are not living it. Spokespersons for such­ celebrities should also be careful how and when to­ defend 'the boys' because when it comes to sex­ and prostitution, guys and dolls are not easy to­ monitor and control!

    From Biziel, on Wed 24 Jun 11:28AM

  2. It's a wild cup with some goofy turnouts. Who cares­ if Egypt spent the night with hookers? This maybe­ someone's idea of a joke but they were flat. No one­ should get beat by the USA. And now USA are tired and­ bruised? Come'on, that is nonsense. They do not­ play together. The same old game with the same old­ build up from right to left. They have no style. You­ put pressure and make them play and they get rattled.­ Back passing all the time and they cannot take the ball­ on the run. It is the lousy A Coaches who make us keep­ using American coaches who know nothing about the­ sport.

    From WillyWolf, on Wed 24 Jun 10:20AM

  3. Hey, I wasn't the guy who made the 'real­ football' comment. Read the whole thing before you­ start yappin. The US team has a real problem with red­ cards in key situations. Ghana, Italy, Brazil.­ That's one of the things they need to cure before­ they can go to the next level. There are 8 to 10 great­ teams and then there is a pack of 30 or so that are a­ mile below. The US is one of the promising ones who­ might bridge that gap.

    From Maxx92, on Wed 24 Jun 5:49AM

  4. Oh, so USA now has a strong team with lots of­ trophies?? Egypt won the African Nations Cup 6 times,­ including the last 2 cups... on the club level, Ahly­ (largest contributor to the national team) is by far­ the best in Africa, and took 3rd place in the World­ Club Cup in Dec 2006.

    Nobody else scored 3 goals­ against Brazil in recent years. Egypt beat­ Italy

    Skiing and Sumo wrestling? What are you talking­ about?

    Against the US, we had several injuries and we­ just didn't play well, but we're definitely the­ better team.. Spain vs. USA will be a joke!!

    From Boxa, on Wed 24 Jun 12:53AM

  5. Oh that's just hilarious. REAL football? I forgot­ Egypt has all those international trophies. They fill­ the 10 story museum between their giant skiing hall of­ fame and state of the art national sumo wrestling­ headquarters. I'm sure Spain was losing sleep over­ the prospect of facing Egypt in the semi's due to­ their fantastic international history.

    From Maxx92, on Tue 23 Jun 6:39PM

  6. what done is done...
    but i still not satisfiy to see­ team who played real football lost to team who played,­ errr, soccer...

    From ahmadinejad89, on Tue 23 Jun 4:55PM

  7. That's as bad as a 10 year old saying the dog ate­ his homework. The US press (and us fans) were­ annihilating the team and the coach before the whistle­ ended the game with Brazil so you can't tell me­ there wasn't equal pressure on the US. For me the­ US win was a win for all of Concacaf after two­ embarrassing, undisciplined (2 red cards) losses-­ especially after the World Cup. Africa has to be­ shaking their heads at Egypt and hoping South Africa­ can rescue it's reputation after that garbage. C41:­ Players in a 'bad mood' go out and kick @#$%. ­ There's no statement for that loss other than to­ shut up and say the other guy was better today.

    From Maxx92, on Tue 23 Jun 4:44PM

  8. Wait till World Cup coming to this country soon....
    If­ somebody dont stop this problem,especially pick­ pocket,there will be more WORST thing will happen.
    Why­ media give such a story when this case still under­ investigation?
    STUPID....Sue that media...

    From StoN KoL, on Tue 23 Jun 4:26PM

  9. Egypt should shut up after such a loathsome performance­ against Usa.....

    From oketaoko, on Tue 23 Jun 3:36PM

  10. TO YOU STEREOTYPE EUROPEANS,R19.000 IS A LOT OF MONEY­ YOU NEED A VERY BIG BAGS FOR IT,SO WHY WOULD A FOOTBALL­ PLAYER WITH EVERYTHING PAID FOR WOULD RUN AROUND WITH­ BAGS OF MONEY?YOU CAN BLAME SA AS YOU LIKE BUT THE­ TRUTH IS SUCH THINGS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE­ THERE'S NOT EVEN A CCTV FOOTAGE SHOWS UNKNOWN­ INDIVIDUAL GOING TO THEIR ROOMS THE LIONS HAVE BEEN IN­ A COUNTRY MORE THAT EGYPT NOT EVEN A SINGLE CRIME HAS­ REPORTED EVEN DURING THE IPL RECENTLY.WHAT'S­ NEXT?THE ITALY PLANE BEING HIJACKED WITH THE ALL THE­ ITALIAN SQUAD ON IT AND TAKEN TO SOWETO,PATHETIC­ ABSOLUTLY B OLLOCKS.

    From ck.ckay, on Tue 23 Jun 11:55AM

  11. MORE STEALING WILL HAPPEN IN THE WORLD CUP AND NOT GOOD­ FOR SOUTH AFRICA

    From Jim C, on Tue 23 Jun 10:51AM

  12. a game lost at field can't be fought off it, brazil­ game was unfair but 3-0 is un-justifiable by any­ account

    From Syed Natiq Ali, on Tue 23 Jun 8:34AM

  13. You will hear and see a lot if this, its called­ "true by mirrors" (SA Style)
    next we will be­ told that the 4 Lions rugby fans who were hijacked and­ robbed in JHB actually got drunk and lost the car with­ their luggage in and made up the robbery story so they­ would not have to pay the insurance excess for the hire­ car (or something similar) this is a fact of life in­ country where the President can get courts and the­ police to change documents to do whatever the ANC­ wants, 21010 This is going to be the FIFA FWC alright­ (The F *** Worst Crimeridden)

    From Yottie, on Tue 23 Jun 4:39AM

  14. again, as an egyptian i like to congratulate the u.s.a.­ team, they were better and deserved the win. on the­ other hand, it is totally unacceptable to blame the­ loss on the media or the theft.
    with that said, i also­ think the whole prostitutes story is not true and­ unlogic. its a shame such rumors are allowed to be­ circulated in the media. o also think south africa­ should re-think their security issues. to have 2 teams­ with thefts in an 8-team event says alot about what­ could happen in a 32-team world cup.....

    From m.shalaby2, on Tue 23 Jun 3:02AM

  15. Everybody has their excuses. The US did when they lost­ to Brazil and Italy. Italy did when they lost to Egypt.

    From elson l, on Tue 23 Jun 2:49AM

  16. Stine,
    maybe you don't understand what you're­ reading. They did not claim they lose because money­ were stolen, but because of Local media alleged the­ money was not stolen but paid to "ladies of the­ night", and this has caused the players subjected­ to terrible damage in Egypt and they are in a very bad­ mood due to the false allegations that were published­ in the newspapers there.

    From c41ng0ku, on Tue 23 Jun 1:11AM

  17. ha ha, thats quite funny. I can see them now. yes, we­ beat the world champions. this calls for some­ prostitutes. thats an amusing story.

    From ricky.carr4, on Mon 22 Jun 11:17PM

  18. This is one of the most silly excuse I have ever seen­ if you want to tell the world that your players money­ was stolen I think you are right to do that publicly­ but to claim you lost 0-3 to USA because your players­ money was stolen is totally ridicules, what a shame,­ you disgraced yourselves in the stadium in the presence­ of the whole world and blame it on stolen money, you­ all should be ashamed of yourselves.

    From stine147, on Mon 22 Jun 11:15PM
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