In the Egyptian rural villages, the “dirt” football fields are ablaze with strong competition, through the feet of innate “shadow talents” far from the limelight, who bring out their best due to continuous public enthusiasm, as they control the ball with grace, dribble skillfully, and pass accurately. This is the atmosphere that made “rural football” a phenomenon that penetrates the football scene in Egypt, competing with its talents, goals, and popularity with Premier League matches on social media platforms.
The tournaments and tournaments, hosted by youth centers in the governorates or private clay stadiums, attracted attention after their competitions and atmosphere developed to match the major tournaments, and the “enchanting” skills of their players and their “played” goals - which can compete strongly for the “Puskas Award” for the best goals in the world - were widely circulated on social media platforms, raising questions about the lack of benefit from these talents, amid public demands for official attention to these tournaments to discover talented people.
The number of youth centers in Egypt is 4,568 (including 4,049 centers in villages), according to the annual bulletin of sports activity statistics for the year 2024.
The “Judges Youth Center” tournament, in Sharkia Governorate (Nile Delta), is a living example of this sporting phenomenon, as it has turned into an annual summer carnival that attracts thousands of followers and dozens of teams who flock to reserve their seats early before the start of the tournament, along with players who have become the focus of attention, and clubs pick them up after they shine on the tournament field.
This year's Professional Judges Championship is gaining a wide audience following, due to the media promotion on social media for the goals of its matches. It also attracted attention after the Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports, Gohar Nabil, set the date for the final match of the tournament on October 18, in his presence.
Youssef Kahraba, the media official for the Professional Judges Championship and one of its organizers, explains to Asharq Al-Awsat that the activities of the summer session organized annually by the Judges Youth Center, in which teams from various governorates of Egypt participate, along with teams from various centers in Sharkia Governorate, reached 80 teams this year.
Regarding the secret of the great attraction of this tournament, he confirms that its success is not only due to the passion of the people, but also to the integration of the organizational elements. The tournament stadium is distinguished by its strategic location in the heart of the town, and the quality of its ground, which is serviced and planned daily.
The digital presence played a pivotal role in creating this fame, according to the media official, as media coverage occupied a large proportion in communicating the tournament’s matches and goals to millions of views across social media platforms, making it the focus of attention of the sports street outside the borders of the governorate. The tournament also succeeded in attracting the interest of major sponsoring companies.
In Kahraba’s opinion, rural tournaments in Egypt are characterized by a public connection that sometimes goes beyond the major club matches. This is due to the competitive nature and the social and geographical ties between the competing villages. The matches often bring together villages with historical or tribal rivalries, which makes the matches brim with enthusiasm and rivalry.
The importance of rural tournaments does not stop at the limits of mass entertainment. Rather, they are a real window to discover talent and provide Egyptian clubs with stars. In this context, the media official points to the successful experiences that resulted from the Judges Youth Center tournament. Two prominent champions of last year’s tournament succeeded in paving their way towards professionalism, as the player Yehia Mustafa moved to the ranks of the Tala’ea El Gaish Club to reserve a starting place for him in the Premier League, while Mohamed Othman joined the Al-Merreikh Club of Port Said.
Kahraba points out that the organizing committee and the sports street in Al-Sharqiya are preparing for an exceptional conclusion expected for the tournament next month, which will witness a high-level official presence led by the Minister of Youth and Sports and the Governor of Al-Sharqiya, and thus it is a great opportunity for new talented people to make their way to the limelight and fame.
Sports critic, Muhammad Al-Halis, believes that the popularity of rural tournaments gains its status from the popularity of football, in addition to being a historical legacy passed down between generations, in addition to being a space for entertainment in light of the rare places for enjoyment and picnicking available in the villages, in addition to the fact that the final matches in them automatically turn into a comprehensive community event, amid a sporting atmosphere filled with enthusiasm and sportsmanship.
He added to Asharq Al-Awsat that what distinguishes popular and rural championships from official club competitions is that they provide a real space to highlight names worthy of stardom, but they lost the opportunity for various reasons.
He believes that “a lot of real talent is wasted because those who monitor it do not have the correct tools to judge it. Therefore, these tournaments represent a golden opportunity to save street talent, especially in poor areas, and therefore they need careful planning and joint organization between the youth and sports directorates, neighborhoods, and local units, which turns these tournaments into an organized platform for discovering promising players.”
Regarding what was announced by the Organizing Committee of the Professional Judges Championship regarding the Minister of Youth and Sports’ attendance at the final match of the tournament and its impact on the talents of the rural tournaments, the sports critic said: “This visit will either be limited to a symbolic presence that does not entail real development or effective investment of talent, and then there will be no significant benefit from it. Or this attendance will reflect a serious desire to get down to the ground and build a system for discovering professional talents, and then it is possible to talk about a real qualitative shift that will have a tangible impact on these players in the future.”
Egyptian football stars Mohamed Abu Trika and Shikabala previously criticized the reliance on football academies to develop players, which require financial compensation that not all talented players can afford, at a time when the role of field talent scouts from all over Egypt has disappeared. In order to reach the outstanding talents in Egypt and facilitate their path to limelight and fame, the United Company launched the television program “Capitano Egypt” several months ago, which is the largest project for the youth sector and discovering football talents in Egypt in cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
