2011–12 Egyptian Premier League Explained

Season:2011–12
League Topscorer:Hosny Abd Rabo
(7 goals)
Matches:78
Total Goals:191
Average Goals:2.448
Nextseason:2012–13

The 2011–12 Egyptian Premier League was the fifty-fifth season of the Egyptian Premier League since its establishment in 1948. The season began on 14 October 2011, with a total of 19 teams contesting the league. Al Ahly won the last seven league titles.

This season, the league increased from 16 to 19 teams due to no relegation in the 2010–11 season as a result of the 2011 Egyptian revolution. Three teams were promoted from the second division.

Following the Port Said Stadium disaster on 1 February 2012, the season was suspended.[1] At that time, teams had played between 14 and 17 games out of 30. Haras El-Hodood was in first place with a 12–1–1 record. This result was considered a significant surprise by Al Ahram.[2] On 10 March 2012, a decision was reached to cancel the remainder of the season.

Teams

Al Ittihad Al Sakandary, Smouha and Al Mokawloon Al Arab were the worst three teams in 2010–11 but were not relegated to the 2011–12 Egyptian Second Division. Three teams were promoted from the 2010–11 Egyptian Second DivisionEl Dakhleya, Ghazl El Mahalla, and Telephonat Bani Sweif – bringing the league up to 19 teams total.

Stadiums and locations

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ClubLocation VenueCapacity
Al AhlyCairoCairo International Stadium74,100
Al Ittihad Al SakandaryAlexandriaAlexandria Stadium13,660
Al MasryPort SaidPort Said Stadium17,988
CairoOsman Ahmed Osman Stadium35,000
El DakhleyaCairoEl Sekka El Hadeed Stadium20,000
El Entag El HarbyCairoAl-Salam Stadium30,000
El GounaHurghadaEl Gouna Stadium30,000
EnppiCairoPetro Sport Stadium25,000
Ghazl El MahallaEl Mahalla El KubraEl Mahalla Stadium29,000
Haras El HodoodHaras El Hedood Stadium22,000
IsmailyIsmailiaIsmailia Stadium18,525
Ittihad El ShortaPolice Academy Stadium22,000
Misr El MakasaFayoumFayoum Stadium10,000
Suez Stadium25,000
SmouhaAlexandriaAlexandria Stadium13,660
Tala'ea El GaishCairoGehaz El Reyada Stadium22,000
Telephonat Bani SweifBani SweifBani Sweif Stadium10,000
CairoCairo Military Academy Stadium22,000
GizaCairo International Stadium74,100

Personnel and kits

TeamChairmanManagerCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsor
Al Ahly Hassan Hamdy Hossam El Badry Hossam GhalyAdidasEtisalat
Al Ittihad Al Sakandary Effat El Sadat José Maceda Ibrahim El ShayebDiadoraMcDonald's
Al Masry Kamel Abou Aly Talaat Youssef Ahmed FawziUmbroMTS Egypt
Ibrahim Mahlab Mohammed Radwan Mohammed El AkabawyDiadoraMcDonald's
El Dakhleya Magdy Altohamy Alaa Abdelaal Mostafa NasrDiadoraMcDonald's
El Entag El Harby Abdelmonem Hassan Osama Orabi Hazem FathiDiadoraMcDonald's
El Gouna Samih Sawiris Anwar Salama Nour El-SayedUmbroMobinil
Enppi Maged Nagaty Mokhtar Mokhtar Adel MoustafaNikeMcDonald's
Ghazl El Mahalla Ahmed Maher Salah El Nahi Ibrahim FaragDiadoraMcDonald's
Abdel Rehim Mohamed Mohamed HalimDiadoraMcDonald's
Ismaily Yehia Al-Komi Mahmoud Gaber Mohamed HomosBURRDA
Ittihad El Shorta Mahmoud Sharaf Helmy Toulan Mohamad HanafyNikeMcDonald's
Misr El Makasa Mohammed Abdelsalam Tarek Yehia Hassan KondiLegeaMcDonald's
Mohamed Abdul Hafez Taha Basry Amr HassanUmbroMcDonald's
Smouha Mohammad Farag Amer Shawky Gharib Ahmed HamodiDiadoraMcDonald's
Tala'ea El Gaish Mostafa Kamel Farouk Gaafar Ernest Papa ArkoDiadoraMcDonald's
Telephonat Bani Sweif Mohamed Abdul Rahim Hamza El-Gamal Saber HusseinDiadoraMcDonald's
Maged Samy Walter Meeuws Mohamed KawarshyJakoWADI DEGLA
Mamdouh Abbas Hassan Shehata Abdelwahed El-SayedAdidasYork ACs

League table

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

RankPlayerClubGoals[3]
1 Hosni Abd RaboIsmaily7
2 Ahmed HassanZamalek6
Minusu BubaEl Gouna6
Oussou KonanMisr El Makasa6
5 Ahmed Hassan MekkyHaras El Hodood5
Emad MotebAl Ahly5
Khaled KamarEl-Shorta5
8 Abdoulaye CisséAl Masry4
Ahmed Abd El-ZaherEnppi4
Ernest Papa ArkoTala'ea El Gaish4
Fouad SalamaMisr El Makasa4
Mohamed KoffiPetrojet4
Salah AshourEl-Shorta4

Own goals

PlayerClubScored ForResultOwn GoalsDate
Moatasem SalemIsmailyEl Gouna1–4119 October 2011
Ahmed Said OukaHaras El HodoodWadi Degla2–1123 October 2011
Mohamed IbrahimMisr El MakasaAl Ahly1–2123 December 2011

Scoring

Clean sheets

Cancellation

On 10 March 2012, a decision was reached to cancel the remainder of the season.[4] A spokesperson for the Egyptian Football Association said the decision was made because there was insufficient time to play the remaining games before the national team was scheduled to compete in the 2012 Olympics and qualifiers for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. Farouk Ga’afar, coach of El-Gaish strongly criticized the decision saying the decision would cost the country a lot of money and that "people sitting in coffee shops could make a better decision."[5] It was the fifth time that Egypt has cancelled a season of football; previously 1954–55, 1970–71, 1973–74, and 1989–90 were cancelled for a variety of reasons.

At the same time, it was announced that 18 teams would compete in a friendly tournament "Martyrs Cup" to raise money for families of those killed in Port Said incident. Al Masry, the home team whose fans rioted in Port Said, leaving 74 people dead and 150 injured, was barred from the tournament. Al Ahly, the visiting team during the attack, has been invited but has not confirmed whether they will participate or not. The tournament is scheduled to commence on 29 March with round robin play. The league will be divided into two groups, and the games will take place in empty stadiums owned by the Egyptian Army.[6] The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals for a single elimination event. The final is scheduled for 18 May. The Egypt Cup is expected to take place as normal, with Al Masry barred from competition.[7]

Under normal circumstances, the league's top two teams get to participate in the African Champions League. It was not immediately clear if league leaders El-Hodood and Al-Ahly would be declared as the league's top two teams and invited to participate in the Champions League. "I am not against the league cancellation but I want to know: Will we be considered as the league champions?" asked El-Hodoud coach Tarek El-Ashry.In the end, Al-Ahly and Zamalek, who were the 2010-11 League Champions and runners-up, were selected to represent Egypt. Al-Ahly went on to win the tournament.

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Abdel-Rahman Hussein. Egypt football match violence: dozens dead and hundreds injured. The Guardian. UK. 2 February 2012.
  2. News: Harras El-Hodoud want Champions League clarification. Mahmoud Elassal. 11 March 2012. Ahram Online. 11 March 2012.
  3. News: Egyptian Premier League Top Scorers. https://web.archive.org/web/20100602040819/http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=egy/nationalleague/topscorers.html. dead. 2 June 2010. FIFA.com. 12 December 2011. 12 December 2011.
  4. News: Egypt's Premier League cancelled. BBC. 10 March 2012. 11 March 2012.
  5. News: El-Geish coach condemns EFA for league cancellation. 11 March 2012. Ahram Online. 11 March 2012.
  6. News: Egyptian Premier League season cancelled. 11 March 2012. Soccerway. 11 March 2012.
  7. News: Egyptian PL cancelled after deadly violence . SuperSport. 11 March 2012. 11 March 2012.