Egypt will host the first major international winter sports event

Under the auspices of the Egyptian Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ministry’s Sports Tourism Department, together with the Egyptian National Olympic Committee (ENOC) and the Canadian Friendship Federation, are hosting the first international hockey tournament after the country’s success in Tokyo. Olympic Games. The ministry and ENOC plan to practice winter sports after Faryal Abdel Aziz won the gold medal in karate just one month ago.

The Egyptian Hockey Experience 2021 (EIHE 2021) is organized in collaboration with the Canadian Friendship Alliance, which promotes cultural engagement between faraway lands through sport. The co-organizers, Egyptian Hockey and Egyptian Winter Sports, actively tried to bring Egypt into the international field of winter sports. Since 2016, Egyptian hockey has participated in hockey matches in Morocco, Canada, the United States, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. His efforts to create an official winter sports federation have been featured in all international centers of excellence.

Nancy Abdel-Hadi, founder and CEO of Ibis, organizer of EIHE 2021, said: “We were all very excited when Scott Howe of the Canadian Friendship Association revealed his interest in hosting the upcoming tournament here in Egypt. The idea of ​​promoting Egypt as an ideal destination for sports tourism, youth tourism and international sporting events is perfectly aligned with our goal. We are committed to promoting winter sports in Egypt, and we are convinced that it is our dream to see the Egyptian flag fly at the Winter Olympics soon.

This tournament will also provide Egypt with an opportunity to redefine why it is a unique destination to host major summer and winter sporting events. The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) was just the latest successful international competition held in the country’s stadiums. While the country’s football infrastructure is world famous, there is a dire need for a full-size skating rink in the country and throughout Africa.

EIHE 2021 will take place from 24 to 26 October 2021 in Cairo. Egyptian hockey reaches teams that showcase the talent of local players as well as foreign and national players. To show their support for the official Winter Sports Federation, Olympic athletes, including figure skater Ahmed Fayed and ice skater Khaled al-Shabokshi, will attend during the three-day hockey event.

Despite Egypt’s rich history of summer sports, Egypt has competed in the Winter Olympics only once, in 1984 at the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. This year, 49 countries and 1,272 athletes competed in 39 different sporting events. Athlete Jamil El Redy, an Egyptian-American, competed in three different alpine ski courses without winning a medal.

The Friendship Alliance is an organization that harnesses the power of sports tourism to promote true cross-cultural engagement between distant communities and to support the growth of unique sports communities around the world. Previous events have taken place in Kenya, Turkmenistan, North Korea, Costa Rica, China and Turkey, and the organization is planning several new destinations for 2022.