Why Egypt Threw the World Cup Trophy in the Bin

In the Egyptian national team’s dressing room, the players are celebrating. Shirts are strewn across the floor, accompanying shoes, socks, and golden confetti still hanging in the air. Quickly, the camera pans toward a bin, in which, sitting amongst various items of rubbish, is the FIFA World Cup trophy. Hit by a used water bottle chucked unceremoniously into the bin, the trophy foregrounds the appearance of the word toz, written in Arabic. Meaning ‘whatever’, or ‘who cares’, the word exemplifies the way in which Egyptian fans have transformed feelings of injustice into a celebration, a rejection of the World Cup’s absurdity. The absurdity, according to fans, was writ large in Egypt’s last game against Argentina. After suffering a 3-2 loss to the South American side on 7 July, widespread accusations of injustice spread rapidly, in Egypt and internationally. In an emotional post-match interview, the Egyptian footballer Mostafa Ziko explained, “we were wronged today, everyone saw it”. In Britain, former England player Alan Shearer agreed, saying, “I think it’s utter and complete b******”. Both were referring to the disallowing of Egypt’s spectacular goal in the 58th minute following VAR review, inContinue reading "Why Egypt Threw the World Cup Trophy in the Bin"

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