SATUC World Cup
January 5, 2016
HE Sheikha Al Thani And HE George Weah | Opening speech for SATUC Qualifiers at Sharm El Sheikha
The second day started at 7:00 a.m. when the children ate their breakfast at the hotel restaurant in the presence of the SATUC team and were accompanied by their supervisors and the staff of the hotel to get them what they need. After breakfast, the children moved to the stadium next to the hotel. It was decorated and full of sponsors’ banners making the festive atmosphere of the tournament, in which children took part for the first time.
The children arrived at Concord Stadium. The technical committee was waiting for them. The Egyptian children were divided into ten teams. Each team consists of ten players and represented a certain province (South Sinai, Aswan, Cairo, Giza, the Red Sea, Ismailia, Matrouh, Gharbia, Dakahlia, and the New Valley). The Egyptian teams were divided into two groups as well. The first group included the teams of Giza, Cairo, South Sinai, Matrouh, and Alexandria. The second group included Ismailia, Aswan, the Red Sea, New Valley, and Dakahlia.
The five Syrian teams were Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Latakia, and Deir al-Zour. The first and second positions of each group qualified for the semi-finals. The eliminations continued to the final. The five Syrian teams played and the winner was the one to collect the largest number of points. There were a variety of juices offered for children in the playground. The tournament started at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, December 31st in the presence of the Liberian athlete George Waya and the Guinean athlete Pascal Feindouno and Sheikha Al Thani, president of SATUC Foundation. They arrived early in Concord Stadium to participate in the tournament and support the orphaned children. The first match was run by international referees commissioned by the Egyptian Football Association, headed by Gamal Allam.
12 matches were played on the first day. The first round started at 9:30 a.m. Giza played with South Sinai, Cairo with Matrouh, Ismailia with the Red Sea, and Aswan with the New Valley. The first round of the Syrian teams began with matches between Damascus and Homs, Aleppo, and Latakia.
The second round of the Egyptian teams started at 12:00 p.m. between Giza and Alexandria, Cairo and South Sinai, Ismailia and Dakahlia, and Aswan with the Red Sea. Then, the second round of Syrian refugees started with two matches between Damascus and Deir al-Zour, and Homs as well. This concluded the first day of the tournament.
The second day witnessed the arrival of the rest of the ambassadors from Cairo on the Egypt Airplane. The delegation consisted of Ameri Farouq, former Minister of Sports, Gamal Allam, President of the Egyptian Football Association, TV host Ahmed Shuber, Tarek Yehia, Rabie Yassin, Ahmed Naji, Mahmoud Fayez, Ashraf Mamdouh, Osama Nabih, and Tawfiq Saqr in addition to Ahmed Hassan the great footballer and Honorary President for World Cup for orphans in Cairo 2015. The delegation also included TV host Tamer Amin and the Moroccan Ambassador in Cairo Mohammed Alami. A delegation from the Moroccan Mutual Aid Association arrived to sign the contract for hosting the SATUC World Cup for Orphans in Morocco in 2017.
The opening started with a row of all participating teams holding signs for the governorate each team represents from Egypt and Syria. The Egyptian flag and the SATUC flag were flapping in the presence of the ambassadors and the Moroccan delegation. The opening ceremony began with a speech by Sheikha Al Thani, president and founder of SATUC Foundation. She talked about her dreams to help the orphans. Her tears during the speech touched everybody and filled them with eagerness to help the orphans and support them in what they like. She said that she hopes to create an International Sporting Academy for orphans, asking everyone to unite to relieve these orphans.
Following Sheikha’s speech, Gamal Allam, President of the Egyptian Football Association, praised the noble idea to grant orphans the opportunity to play the most popular game in the world. He promised the cooperation of the Egyptian Football Association for the success of this event. Then, he announced the official opening of the tournament.
After his speech, in which he announced the opening of the tournament, a large cake holding the logo of the SATUC tournament was presented. They ate the cake wishing them Happy New Year in 2016 to support the orphans.
Sheikha Al-Thani and footballers were among the children to relieve their pain and put a smile on their faces. It was amazing to find not only Egyptian football players but also international footballers like Pascal Feindouno who danced to Egyptian folk songs with all orphaned children. The concert lasted for about an hour with folk songs and children dancing with artists. All attendees forgot about the cold weather that night, in order to celebrate that occasion and support those orphans who played football.
After dancing and songs during the tournament opener, children queued, waiting for their return to the hotel, while artists returned to the hotel where they stayed