One day after winning a silver medal at the 2023 African Wrestling Championship in Tunis Ahmed Baghdouda left the Egyptian camp and fled to France. Today he is seen as a living symbol of Egypt’s mismanagement and disregard for talent in the sports arena. 

Baghdouda’s “escape” is hardly the first such incident in recent years. Numerous Egyptian athletes have fled acquiring citizenship in other countries and representing them in international tournaments. 

Regrettably, the state has taken no steps to improve the situation by investing more funds in developing and promoting sports to build future champions. On the contrary: even more austerity was introduced, as the budget of the Egyptian Ministry of Youth and Sports was reduced by 100 million Egyptian pounds (USD $3.2 million). 

It reflects the state’s attitude and lack of interest in sport, which is viewed as an endeavor that does not generate revenue. The story of Baghdouda and so many other Egyptian athletes now representing other countries is one of better conditions, opportunities, and lifestyles. Yet in Egypt they are often met with accusations of betrayal.

Why Did He Leave? 

Ahmed Baghdouda’s father Fouad, an auto-rickshaw driver in Kafr El-Shaikh north of Cairo, shed a light on his son’s decision to escape from the Egyptian national team in Tunisia.

“Ahmed was sad,” he told Daraj. “Nobody cared about him. At the time of the championship, he had a knee injury and didn’t receive sufficient medical support. Yet he still participated.” 

In response to allegations that Ahmed’s escape was premeditated with the intention to get citizenship in France, his father replied: “Certainly not.”

“Ahmed has traveled many times for training and tournaments in Russia, Croatia, Spain, and Estonia,” he continued. “He has a Schengen visa. If he had wanted to leave, he could have done so directly from Egypt. The timing of his departure, right after the African Championship, was coincidental.”

As a Tuk Tuk driver, Fouad is barely able to cover his family’s expenses. Often the family has only bread and fava beans to eat. “I’m a man who lives day by day,” said Fouad. “Yet, despite that, I always allocated funds for my son’s training.”

The Egyptian Wrestling Federation (EWF) was quick to blame him for his son’s actions to absolve itself from any responsibility. Yet, according to Fouad, it was the other way around: Ahmed has not received a salary from the EWF for years. 

In addition, his son had received a reward of 16,000 Egyptian pounds for winning the silver medal in Tunis, yet a 14,800 pound deduction was made, leaving the young wrestler with a mere 1,200 pounds.

The Egyptian Tax Authority explained that the deduction was the result of a ten percent income taxation, a three percent development fee, and repayment of a loan related to Ahmed’s transfer to the National Talent Project.

Deeply Wounded 

Baghdouda’s escape has deeply wounded Egyptian dignity, prompting the state to refer the EWF to the public prosecution office to be investigated. The EWF has stated that Baghdouda has simply succumbed  to foreign financial temptations. During a session at the Egyptian parliament, the EWF also claimed that “sympathizing with him only encourages others to follow suit.” 

Egyptian President Sisi tasked the National Training Academy with offering Baghdouda training and a scholarship, fully endorsing him as a promising Egyptian sports talent. Yet, so far, Baghouda is still in France. 

His escape has become a delicate matter, unlike previous cases, which saw Egyptian athletes leave for other countries, yet no tangible efforts were made by the state to try reverse their decision.  

In response to the allegations, EWF President Essam El-Nawar claimed Baghdouda is not one of the players being prepared to compete in the Olympics. Adding: “I do not consider him a player of great importance.”

In a statement to Daraj, Nawar expressed his surprise at the media furor around Baghdouda’s case, saying  he was not the first athlete to run from the national wrestling team. 

“Half of the team has fled to the US, and now France has become a destination due to its efforts to form a team that can compete internationally,’ he said. “Yet, these events have not negatively affected us, as evidenced by our recent achievement winning 68 medals across various weight categories at the African Championship.”

“When a wrestler joins another country’s national team, he receives a salary that is at least ten times higher than in Egypt,” he continued. “Our salaries do not exceed 3,000 Egyptian pounds a month (US$ 100) due to our limited budget. In football, a single player can earn the federation’s budget for a century in one year.”

Nawar also pointed at the presence of “global broker networks that persuade sporters to abandon their national teams and act as their agents to make substantial sums of money.” 

Mass Exodus

Egyptian sport is witnessing a mass exodus as a result of mistreatment, lack of appreciation, and a lack of support for athletes in their pursuit of glory. The state is unwilling and/or unable to recognize the importance of sports and allocate sufficient funds to sponsor future champions.

According to Minister of Sports Ashraf Sobhy, the cost amounts to some US$ 2 million, which surpasses the annual budgets of the country’s sport federations. Unlike many other countries, which moreover provide athletes with the training needed to compete at an international level.

One of the athletes who chose to compete under the banner of another nation is Mohamed el Shorbagy, the renowned squash player. Ranked 3rd globally, he currently represents Britain having played for years under the Egyptian flag. 

Shorbagy claims he did not receive any support throughout his career in Egypt and had to do everything on his own.

Preceding Shorbagy in representing Britain was equestrian Sameh El Dahan. Dahan’s decision came in response to his unjust exclusion from the Egyptian horse riding team for the Tokyo Olympics. 

Dahan was not the first. The Belgian national equestrian team by then had welcomed Abdelkader Said, following his dissatisfaction with the Egyptian Equestrian Federation (EEF). This led to the departure of several other riders, even though  all were deeply attached to their homeland. 

The first wrestler to make a run was Karam Gaber who had won gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, giving Egypt only its 7th gold medal after a 56-year hiatus. 

Some eight months ago, 17-year-old wrestler Mohamed Essam fled the Egyptian national team following  the World Junior Wrestling Championship in Italy. He left his passport behind. Extensive investigations have so far not uncovered the reasons for his escape. 

However, it appears that Essam had planned his escape before traveling to Italy. He hails from Menofia, which has seen many young people seek work in Italy through irregular migration.

One of the most shocking recent incidents concerns  weightlifter Fares Hassouna who acquired Qatari citizenship and won a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This incident was particularly embarrassing considering the political dispute between Egypt and Qatar at the time.  

Hassouna’s decision to change citizenship was a result of feeling neglected, according to his father, as well as allegations of favoritism in the selection of coaches and athletes. The EWF responded by saying that Doha “spends money on him like football clubs do.”

Three more Egyptian athletes competed for other countries during the Tokyo Olympics: track and field athletes Ashraf Amgad El-Seify for Qatar and Ahmed Abdelwahed for Italy, while judoka Shady El Nahas represented Canada securing 4th place.

The countries naturalizing Egyptian athletes are not always wealthy countries. Wrestler Tarek Abdelsalam now represents Bulgaria. His departure from Egypt was quite dramatic. 

Abdelsalam suffered a neck injury in 2015. For six months he tried to convince the EWF to pay for his treatment, but to no avail.

“They said any surgery would end my career,” he told Egyptian television channel DMC. “I had to pay for the treatment myself. Nobody cared and nobody helped me. So I decided to retire and go work in Bulgaria.”

Initially, he worked in a shawarma place to pay for his treatment. When officials heard of his story, they offered to help. They offered him citizenship. A few months later Abdelsalam won gold at the European championship. 

New Horizons

The names mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg. The list is much longer. Many Egyptian athletes have sought refuge in other countries without official announcements. 

If it were not for Baghdouda escaping to France after winning silver at a major tournament, his story might have passed by unnoticed too. 

Athletes leaving Egypt cannot be seen separately from the growing emigration of Egyptian doctors and engineers to such countries as Britain, Germany, and Canada, which are among the top destinations for Egyptians searching for work and a better life.

It seems everyone is fleeing Egypt to broaden their horizons. And the stories of those who have left have an impact on other youths, who aspire to follow in their footsteps. 

When one Egyptian news site described Baghdouda as a fugitive and urged the public to address him as such, it was stunned by a flood of comments wishing the athlete success, praising his decision to escape, and congratulating him for leaving the “tyrannical homeland.” 

This reflects the general sentiment among Egyptians who are longing for an exit. It signals a significant shift in attitude. Most Egyptians were highly critical and even angry when Shorbagy chose to represent Britain just a year ago. Now Baghouda is met with an overwhelming sense of joy and praise.