Tag: Sports

Mohamed Salah has taken down all his social media accounts after sending a cryptic tweet that read, “2019 Resolution: Time to get in touch, for real.”

As of today, his Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts have gone, leaving fans to wonder why.

From his side, Salah’s agent, Ramy Abbas, did not comment on the decision until now.

Some speculated that this is part of a new commercial campaign by DHL, Vodafone, or Pepsi, while others think it’s related to a recent dispute with the Egyptian Football Association.

Last year, the Egyptian FA used Salah’s image on the national team’s plane during the World Cup in June, causing damage to Salah’s contract with Vodafone, which holds exclusive rights to use his image.

Cable Network Egypt (CNE) said that beIN service has been restored in Egypt today afternoon by the source. The service was stopped for less than 24 hours due to a commercial dispute between CNE and beIN Media Group.

CNE is the only authorized distributor of beIN Media Group channels in Egypt.

Yesterday, beIN Sports said that its services will no longer be available in Egypt as of January 8. As a result of dispute with CNE over refusing to agree on reasonable commercial terms.

beIN advised viewers in Egypt to subscribe through its online portal “beIN Connect” for a 50 percent discount.

However, it requires a good internet connection to be able to stream beIN channels. Which is not easy in the country due to its weak internet infrastructure.

In its short statement, CNE did not mention if they are behind the resolution.

According to a source at beIN Media Group told MercatoDay that, the company has requested a decrease in CNE’s commission in the new contract renewal, to reduce the financial burden on subscribers in Egypt – he added that beIN sees that the company is accused of monopolizing the sports market and it doesn’t want to make it worse.

beIN also sees that the amount charged by CNE for only representing the company in Egypt is overpriced.

beIN’s request wasn’t met with an approval from the CNE side for almost three months, until yesterday when the company stopped the service. Source at beIN Media Group told MercatoDay.

This situation came in a glory day for football in Egypt, as the country has been honored to host 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, and Mohamed Salah won African Player of the Year for the second year in a row.

Egypt and Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has been named the Confederation of African Football’s Player of the Year for second year in a row – during the award ceremony in Dakar, Senegal on Tuesday night.

Salah defeated his Liverpool team-mate Sadio Mane and Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to top the poll.

The annual award is decided by a voting panel made up of national team coaches and captains, in addition to a selection of journalists and officials.

Salah won the Golden Boot for the 2017-18 Premier League season after scoring 32 goals in 36 appearances to set a record for most goals scored by a player in the modern league. Beating Harry Kane, Kevin de Bruyne, David Silva, Leroy Sane, and David de Gea, in the vote by Premier League players.

He also was named the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year 2018 in England. He became the first Egyptian footballer to win the PFA prestigious award.

On the national side, Salah fueled national sentiment as Egypt got to hear its first world games start-whistle in 28 years, as he scored a penalty in the injured-time to qualify Egypt for Russia’s World Cup after beating Congo 2-1.

The Reds striker has so far scored 13 Premier League goals for the Reds this season.

Salah moved to Chelsea from Basel in Switzerland in 2013, he quickly became unhappy with being with Chelsea, the club lent Salah to Italian outfits Fiorentina and Roma, then sold him to the latter club. Salah blossomed in Rome, averaging close to a goal every two matches, and Liverpool paid almost 37 million pounds (about $47 mn/41 mn euros) to sign him two years ago.

beIN Sports will no longer be available in Egypt as of January 8 – Said beIN Media Group Tuesday on Twitter. The company is unable to provide services on CNE, as a result of dispute with CNE over refusing to agree on reasonable commercial terms.

Viewers in Egypt can still tune to beIN channels through Internet using beIN Connect service on smartphones and other devices. 

This comes hours after the CAF executive committee announced Egypt as the host of 2019 Africa Cup of Nations between June 15 and July 13.

However, beIN has slashed its online subscription monthly fee with a 50 percent limited time offer. With only $10 instead of $18 per month you have online access to beIN CONNECT channels. Your subscription will include access to beIN SPORTS HD1 to HD17, in addition to: beIN GOURMET, beJUNIOR, Jeem TV and Baraem TV.

Facebook has revealed statistics of its Text-Delights soccer animations that were launched ahead of Russia 2018 World Cup. More than 583 million tournament-related animations appeared on Facebook during the tournament. In total, there were 78 phrases that triggered animations: a few celebratory phrases for each of the 32 countries in the tournament and nine language variants of “Goal!”. Said Facebook in a blogpost.

Now that the World Cup has wrapped, these soccer animations are no longer active.

During the tournament, for instance, when fans of the Egypt national team typed “Yalla Ya Masr” into a post or comment, they might have seen Egypt’s team colors shoot across the screen along with an animation of Pharaohs, a flag and celebratory streamers. When fans of Nigeria posted the team’s “Up Super Eagle” cheer, they might have seen a stream of green and white alongside an eagle. And no matter what country a fan was cheering for, celebrating a big goal — or GOOOOOOOOOOALLL! — activated a soccer ball rocketing across the screen with fireworks and applause.

See a goal in action

These kinds of text effects first rolled out on Facebook in 2017.

Creative Director Zach Stubenvoll, who oversaw the project, describes the process by saying, “Creatively, we pushed the animations to express each team’s pride and capture some of the excitement of watching a game live in a stadium. We looked at every aspect of the experience — from color, icons, motion and sound design — making sure each was thoughtfully considered and relevant for fans.”

During the 2014 World Cup, Facebook noticed that fans were celebrating big goals on the platform in real-time by typing “Goal!” or “Gol!”, but that they weren’t content to use justly a single O. To ensure that they could capture the full scope of fans’ enthusiasm, the team designing this year’s animations developed a new method of pattern matching that allowed for any number of G‘s, O‘s, A‘s, and L‘s to activate the animation. In English, “Goal,” “goalll,” “goooooaaaalllll” and “GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL” all resulted in the animation. The team then repeated this process for nine different language variants of “goal.”

“In 2018, more than 11 million O‘s were used in instances of the English word “goal” on Facebook. But there were more than 85 million O‘s in instances of “gol”, the word in Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese. The most exuberant “goal” contained 63,199 characters—or the equivalent of 17 pages of text written in single-spaced 12-point font.” Said Facebook

Most popular country cheers during the World Cup

Mexico comes first on most popular country cheers list with 84 million cheers, Brazil comes second with 64 million, Argentina third with 64 million, Egypt fourth with 47 million, and Colombia fifth with 41 million. According to Facebook data.

[table id=3 /]

How often did you use text delights during the World Cup to cheer for your team?

The legend, Essam El-Hadary has signed a one-year agreement to become the brand ambassador for Panadol GSK.

In his role as Panadol’s voice in 2018, El-hadary will act as the brand spokesperson, participating in key programs to deliver the brand’s message to consumers and better engage both consumers and supporters. He will further endorse Panadol as an enabler that helped him overcome pain and thus achieve more in his amazing success journey.

El-Hadary said “It’s my pleasure to be with you all today and to work with GSK. Frankly, I am not of a commercial person, however I agreed on this partnership as I am a loyal Panadol user in my daily life for pain relief or Cold & Flu symptoms.”

“Panadol was my biggest helper throughout the pains” ~ Essam El-Hadary

“Panadol is the only analgesic I depend on, for many years. My fans always ask my recipe for success. The success lies beneath many sacrifices of many tastes of life and extensive trainings. Panadol was my biggest helper throughout the pains I had through the trainings. Of course, this is beside God’s grace and my family’s support” he added.

Over the years, there has been very few constants for Egyptian football. Coaches changing, players continuing or quitting; and competitions won or lost.  But there has always been one man standing there, gloves on, ready for the next challenge.

El-Hadary has been and continues to be a legendary name among football players. He has an incredibly successful career, taking home many names and trophies. The goal keeper made his first international debut in 1996.

He was there when Egypt dominated Africa in the 2000’s. El-Hadary earned 156 trophies and won the African Cup of Nations four times, while being picked as goalkeeper of the tournament in 2006, 2008 and 2010. Earlier in 2017, two days after his 44th birthday, he became the oldest player to appear in the Cup of Nations. Finally, El-Hadary did an awesome job saving two penalties in a row to send Egypt to the final World Cup for the first time in 28 years.

GSK Consumer Health General Manager, Nabil Besri stated, “Captain Essam, as being a loyal Panadol user, he will be Panadol’s face in 2018, delivering the brand’s benefits to consumers. He will be sharing his experience on Panadol as an enabler, which helps him to overcome pain and enrich his achievements throughout his successful journey”

Nabil Besri added “2018 is a very special year for Egypt and for GSK CH. For Egypt, because National Football team is qualified for the FIFA world cup for the first time in 28 years.

And for GSK CH Egypt, because we have a very ambitious growth vision based on great brands. Patients and consumer are always in the heart of the business and innovation we do. Today we are here today to celebrate the partnership of our Panadol brand with a well-known consumer Captain Essam Elhadary. He is one of Egypt’s most prominent football players, the Captain of the Egyptian National Football team.”

GSK in Egypt

GSK has been operating in Egypt for decades, starting with a Wellcome R & D lab in the boat on the Nile as of 1920. They have since been bringing innovative medicines, consumer healthcare products and vaccines to the Egyptian population.

Over the years, GSK has made significant investments in the country and is one of the largest foreign investments in the Health Sector and Pharma field in Egypt, with investments exceeding USD 800 million.

GSK Egypt has a workforce of over 1500 employees and two manufacturing sites in Cairo and Giza. They are one of the largest in MEA, supplying around 150 million units a year, out of which 88% are manufactured locally in addition to exporting to different markets around the globe.

The FIFA World Cup trophy has landed in Dubai yesterday as part of the global FIFA World Cup™ Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola. The arrival of the trophy was celebrated with an official launch ceremony at DXB International Airport.

Having kicked-off in London the trophy tour will continue its global journey following its departure from Dubai to hit other iconic cities, before settling back in host-nation, Russia.

The trophy found an amazing home at the Dubai Frame upon its arrival, where it was placed in its centre for a spectacular shot showcasing the beauty of the frame, and capturing the Burj Khalifa, the tallest structure in the world, in the background.

The moment brought together one of Dubai’s most recent and breath-taking landmarks and one of the most prestigious and iconic trophies in the world of sport.

Consolidating the fact that tolerance is a value that is integral in both the FIFA World Cup Trophy and Dubai, the trophy then made an appearance at the recently inaugurated Tolerance Bridge.

Marking its presence in the emirates; continuing Dubai’s legacy of being a pioneering novel city; and breaking a world record, the trophy was taken to Burj Khalifa’s 148^th floor – marking the highest point on land the trophy has ever been.

The tour ended with a gala dinner at the Armani Pavilion Downtown Dubai with numerous illustrious attendees including His Excellency Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council, Murat Ozgel, General Manager of The Coca-Cola Company Middle East and Victoria Lopyreva, official ambassador of the FIFA World Cup 2018.

Emphasizing the importance of the event, Murat Ozgel, General Manager of The Coca-Cola Company Middle East, said: “Football is the most popular games in the world, uniting global citizens of all walks of life in their shared passion and enthusiasm for the game. Coca-Cola shares that passion and, together with FIFA, we are proud to champion an event that brings nations together in a celebration of sporting prowess and a beautiful game.

The UAE embodies the essence of football from their passion for the game, to the unity that defines sportsmanship and it is an incredible honour to host the most prestigious and coveted prize in world in Dubai. The celebration of the tour not only strengthens our partnership with FIFA, but reaffirms our commitment to our mutual mission of inclusion and diversity in not just the game, but the world.”

The FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour kicked off in September 2017 in Russia. During its journey across six continents, the trophy will travel a total of 126,000 kilometres in the months leading up to the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The global phase of the FIFA World Cup^™ Trophy Tour kicked off in London, United Kingdom on January 22. The trophy will finish its world tour in Tokyo, Japan on April 30, and will return to Russia for a final tour of the host country in May 2018. The FIFA World Cup will run from June 14 to July 15, 2018.

Uber Egypt today signed a contract with MS Commercial to feature Mohamed Salah as its brand ambassador for 2018, making him the first sports player to be the face of the leading ride hailing technology in Egypt.

The partnership will provide fans with an opportunity to engage with Mohamed Salah, in addition to shooting an advertising campaign starring him, and including limited signed merchandise for the fans. Commenting on the partnership, Abdellatif Waked General Manager of Uber Egypt “This year is going to be a great year for Egyptian football and we thought what better way to celebrate than by signing Mohamed Salah to be our brand ambassador. As a world renowned player that has help put Egyptian football on the map, we thought it only made sense that he is made to be the face of Uber Egypt this year.

Mohamed Salah also expressed his enthusiasm “Uber Egypt has transformed the way people move around in Egypt and I am excited about featuring with a brand that is so passionate about football.”

“We are very excited to sign a partnership with MS Commercial to feature Mohamed Salah that will bring fans closer to him and help keep the football living legend close to his fans back in his home country.” Commented Nour Ahmadein, Senior Partnership Manager, Uber Egypt.

The signing with Mohamed Salah follows Uber Egypt’s partnership with Al Ahly last year, and is part of Uber Egypt’s dedication to becoming an integral part of the football fans experience in Egypt.

The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has listed Koorabia.com as among the 25 official Arab media outlets to accompany Arab teams during Russia World Cup 2018.

For the first time in history, four Arab countries will participate in the World Cup, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.Koorabia.com is one of the leading football sites in the Arab world since 2008, owned by Media Pan Arab. Korabia was established in 2013, along with Mercatoday.

The sports site has nearly 6M users and 50M page views per month. (According to the statistics of Google Analytics)

Korabia will introduce a dedicated mobile app and interactive services during Russia World Cup 2018

“Koorabia.com will offer its audience various interactive services and exclusive media coverage through its portal and another (World Cup) dedicated platforms on web and mobile for football fans.” Said Abdelrahman Eliwa, CEO of Media Pan Arab

He added “This is part of a comprehensive development plan that will be implemented by a team of IT and sports content experts in 2018 to deliver a variety of original content formats and interactive services that will enhance the top position of Koorabia.com in the Arab world.”

“In addition to the sports information center and exclusive event coverage, our plan includes interactive competitions for the football fans in the Arab world,” Elewa said

Mohamed Salah, the Egyptian football star has been named as brand ambassador of Vodafone Egypt for 2018, announced the mobile operator today.

“The future is exciting, ready?,” posted Vodafone Egypt on its Facebook page tagging Salah as a teaser prior the announcement.

Fans were on their toes in anticipation of what the post entails until Vodafone’s official announcement came through, setting off an explosion of frenzied comments, likes and shares.

An icon for youth in the country, Salah perfectly fits Vodafone Egypt’s rebranding strategy over the coming period, which promotes optimism, trust and hope.

Salah won the hearts of Egyptians after scoring the golden goal that qualified Egypt for the 2018 World Cup in Russia for the first time in 28 years.

Salah with Vodafone Sponsorship Team