An Egyptian prominent TV sports presenter turned his daily program into a cooking show as a kind of protest the devastating state of soccer in his country, an Egyptian daily reported on Thursday.
One of Egypt's top TV sports presenters turned his daily slot into a cooking show to protest the stoppage of domestic football matches.
Ahmed Shobeir – a former legendary goalkeeper – on Wednesday shocked his audience when he swapped salad for soccer, during his daily show on the private Egyptian Modern Sports TV, al-Ahram Online reported.
“As there are no soccer games in Egypt, today I will make a salad for you,” said Shobair as he sliced raw vegetables on air.
“This is how you cut tomatoes and cucumber,” the former al-Ahly and Egypt goalkeeper said, advising chefs to remove the tips of cucumbers before serving, according to al-Ahram Online.
On Monday, Egypt’s newly elected football association board decided to postpone the Egyptian Premier League Championship to an unspecified date.
Security concerns were cited as reasons for not starting the league’s championship which was supposed to be resumed on Oct. 17.
As many as 74 football fans were killed in February in an incident that erupted after a Premier League match between al-Ahly and al-Masry teams at Egypt’s Port Said Stadium. Since then, the matches have been frozen.
Despite the pressure to resume the soccer league, al-Ahly fans – known as the Ultras – have protested several times; objecting the resumption of the league before suspects involved in the massacre have been brought to justice.
Ultras vowed to storm any match that takes place before verdicts are reached in the Port Said case.
Shobeir, a former MP for former president Hosni Mubarak’s National Democratic Party, was slammed by the Ultras for his criticism of the fans’ use of boisterous tactics in and out of stadiums, according to al-Ahram Online.
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