EGYPT’S Minister of Sports, Ashraf Sobhy, is optimistic about the country’s performance in the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympic Games and predicts a total of 10 medals for Egypt.
The Minister announced that Egypt won six medals in the previous Tokyo Olympic Games and expressed his hopes for 10 medals in pairs for the upcoming event.
Known as Paris 2024, the upcoming Summer Olympics will take place from 26 July to 11 August 2024.
Egypt’s U-23 national football team secured their spot in the upcoming event by finishing as runners-up in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations held in Morocco in early July.
“We are proud of the performance of the U-23 national team after winning the silver medal in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations,” Sobhy said.
“They performed well during the tournament and showed a superb performance during the final game against hosts Morocco,” he added.
In the final match against Morocco’s under-23 national team, Egypt lost 2-1 with midfielder Mahmoud Saber scoring their only goal before receiving a red card in the 18th minute, ultimately leading to their defeat.
Olympic rules dictate that each squad can have a maximum of three players over the age of 23.
Acknowledging Mohamed Salah’s stature as a prominent player, Sobhy expressed his hopes for him to be included as one of the three players in the squad.
Egypt bid to host the 2036 Olympic games
According to Sobhy, in September 2022, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi authorized the country’s sports authorities to bid for the 2036 Olympic Games.
During the meeting, the possibility of Egypt becoming the first African country to host the Olympics will be discussed, according to a statement by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach.
“We are serious in this file as IOC president Thomas Bach admired the Egyptian facilities,” Sobhy said.
“We target hosting the 2027 African Games and will bid to organize the 2036 Olympic Games for sure,” he added.
In recent years, Egypt has successfully hosted several international sports events such as the 2019 African Cup of Nations and the 2021 World Handball Championship.
The upcoming Olympic Games will be held in Paris in 2024, Los Angeles in 2028, and Brisbane, Australia in 2032.
Source – Ahram online
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