CAIRO, 11 March 2005 — Anyone doubting that Egypt could be any more obsessed with soccer than it already is should prepare to be proven wrong.

The Ministry of Sports announced that Egypt is ready and capable of hosting the 2006 African Nations Cup next January, denying press reports that the Egyptian FA had an insufficient budget.

Earlier this week, local newspapers reported that Egypt’s plans for the African Nations Cup have been thrown into chaos after the resignation of the tournament manager, Hesham El Kheshen. El Kheshen justified his move saying he had disagreement with the country’s football authorities and could not achieve his vision for the tournament.

Officials at the Sports Ministry told Arab News that El Kheshen’s resignation was a shock to the organizing team, but the ministry is still following the original schedule and will soon announce the name of the new manager. Sources at the ministry revealed that Amr Aboul Magad could be the next manager. Other members of the Egyptian FA, however, said that bureaucratic procedures have put them off from continuing their preparations and that no headquarters have been chosen yet for the committee. They added that they doubt that the state of the venues will be fit for the mega event.

Sports critics do not seem to echo the same point of view, stressing that Egypt has the potential to organize an “excellent” African Cup. “Egypt has adequate sports infrastructures, we have new stadiums and we are working on refurbishing existing ones and we have excellent heath facilities,” said Hassan Al Hadad, sports critic at the official daily Al Ahram. Egypt is now working on refurbishing Cairo Stadium, other sports arenas including facilities near Sixth of October City, Ismailia and Port Said. Local reports, however, state that the country’s budget will fail to cover the pre-cup expenditures and that the government failed to raise the money needed.

“You keep on hearing these kinds of stuff all the time, but let me say that the government is as obsessed with soccer as the rest of the Egyptians and they will work very hard to make this tournament successful,” said Al Hadad. “We had the same fears before at the time of the African Nations Cup in 1991, and we agreed later that it was a big achievement.”