Egyptian wrestler who fled ‘unfair treatment’ to France invited to receive training grant as per Sisi’s directives

BY

Amr Mohamed Kandil

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Wed, 24 May 2023 - 08:56 GMT

BY

Amr Mohamed Kandil

Wed, 24 May 2023 - 08:56 GMT

FILE - Egyptian wrestler Ahmed Baghdoda

FILE - Egyptian wrestler Ahmed Baghdoda

CAIRO – 24 May 2023: The story of the Egyptian wrestler, Ahmed Fouad Baghdoda, which has triggered controversy on social media over the past few days may come to an end after he was invited to receive a training grant as per President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s directives.

The National Training Academy (NTA) has invited Baghdoda to receive the grant as a “promising Egyptian sports talent”.

Baghdoda has sparked a state of frustration, wrath and shock on social media as he reportedly “fled” to France just after he won the silver medal as part of the Egyptian team at the 2023 African Wrestling Championships, which was held in Tunisia this month.

Baghdoda left his bag and belongings in the hotel and took his passport to travel from Tunisia to France a few hours before his scheduled return to Cairo.

Cause of disappearance

His father, Fouad Baghdoda said in TV remarks that his son suffered from unfair treatment and pressures as he did not get his financial dues from the Egyptian Wrestling Federation over the past year.

Fouad Baghdoda said his son was rewarded LE 16,000 for the silver medal he won during the championship before the prize was deducted to only LE 1,200 after taxes.

Legal measures

The Egyptian Wrestling Federation ordered an investigation into the disappearance of Baghdoda and said in a statement that it studies taking the required legal procedures to preserve its rights.

The federation said it also communicated with the United World Wrestling (UWW) to take measures to ensure that Baghdoda continues wrestling as part of the Egyptian team.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Sports announced on Tuesday earmarking LE 1.1 billion for the federations of the individual games ahead of the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

The ministry also announced doubling the prize of winning the silver medal to LE 2 million.

Social media reactions

Opinions in social media have varied with many of users supporting the wrestler against the “unfair treatment” that he received, while others have argued that the wrestler has misbehaved when he left the team abruptly.

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris has directed a message to the Baghdoda, urging him to return to the homeland.

“Come back and I will fix everything that disturbed you. We, the people of your country, need you,” Sawiris wrote on Twitter.

Amira Al-Adawy thanked President Sisi for the support he extended to Baghdoda by issuing directives to provide him with a training grant.

“What is going on is great,” Adawy said. “Egypt does not give up on its sons and God willing, he will come back”.

Amr Nabil blames Baghdoda’s decision to abandon the team on “mismanagement”.

“Egypt has lost a real talented champion who has won wrestling championships from the age of 15 and until 22 due to mismanagement,” Nabil said.

“The weird thing is that the media only started talking about him after he fled,” he added.

Islam Mansour blamed Baghdoda for “fleeing” the national team’s camp, considering him “traitor”.

“If Ahmed Baghdouda had gone out in a legitimate way without escaping from the national team camp, no one would have blamed him,” Mansour said.

“However, he was going on an official mission in the name of Egypt, and when he escapes in this way, he becomes a traitor,” Mansour added.

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