Sobhy: “We will show the world what Egypt can do”

Ahead of Egypt 2021’s launch, the Minister of Youth and Sports Dr Ashraf Sobhy met with the medical delegation responsible for the tournament alongside Dr Hassan Moustafa, President the International Handball Federation.

The meeting centered around the medical precautions in place for the tournament which takes place from the 13th of January till the 31st. The provisions are in place to safeguard all teams and participants, with support from the political leadership in Egypt underlined by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.

Plans were demonstrated for the precautions in place for players and technical staff, as well as the plan for fans to attend and the hospitals that will ensure the safety of those participating. Plans for taking temperatures, masks, spacing crowds, social distancing, sanitising and dealing with positive cases mid-tournament were also discussed.

Sobhy insisted that the participants’ health and safety were of utmost importance, in light of the challenges that are in place with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We will show the world what Egypt can do in hosting the world championship in such challenging conditions, we want to set precedents on how to manage an event of such a scale in coordination with relative entities in Egypt.

“The priority goes to securing the entrance and exit of fans, in order to provide enough support for the Egyptian national team.

Moustafa on the other hand said, “The whole world is waiting to see how things pan out and how we run the tournament in order to take the template and implement it elsewhere in other tournaments. We highly value the efforts spent by the medical sector, and we want Egypt to be an example for all.”