Egypt's Football Dominance

Before 1981 only two North African teams had ever won the African Champion's League title - Egypt's al-Ismaily in 1969, and Algeria's MC Alger in 1976. Since then, North Africa's teams have dominated the championship, winning the title on no fewer than 22 out of the last 28 tournaments. In 2008 Egypt took the Africa Cup of Nations, Cairo's al-Ahly won the Champion's League title for a record sixth time, and Egypt's Mohamed Abou Treika was named the BBC African Footballer of the Year.

What happened in 1981, and how did Egypt come to dominate African football?

Possible writer - football journalist Mohammed Ali

A symposium on the technical aspects of the 2008 Africa Cup

A symposium on the technical aspects of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana was held in Cairo to evaluate what happened. The objective of the star-filled workshop was to review the 26th Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana and also identify key challenges in the pursuit of developing African football.

Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 1 - 7 May 2008 Issue No. 895