Egyptian football fans are looking forward to a very important match today, the match between Al Ahly and Zamalek in the Egyptian Cup final, which is being held for the first time outside Egypt. Some people are surprised that the match is being held in Saudi Arabia, despite being the oldest tournament in Egypt. There are questions about how this crucial tournament is played outside Egypt? And by implementing it outside the country, the tournament will lose its identity and history.
Let’s review the history of the Egyptian Cup:
The idea came when Sultan Hussein Kamel was ruling Egypt, and it was named the Sultan’s Cup, making it the first local tournament in Egypt.
It launched in 1917, and the tournament saw the participation of Egyptian clubs, along with clubs affiliated with the British occupation that was in Egypt at that time.
Al Ahly club refused to participate in that tournament due to the presence of British occupation clubs, but Zamalek club agreed to participate, becoming the first Egyptian club to participate in the tournament.
A year after the tournament started, Al Ahly participated in the tournament to prove the capabilities of Egyptian clubs against English clubs.
With the establishment of the Egyptian Football Association in 1921, there was a desire to create a tournament in which only Egyptian clubs would participate, and hence the idea of the Egyptian Cup came about, with the participation of clubs such as Zamalek, Al Ahly, Tersana, Al Olympi, the Schools Team, the Railways, Abbassia, Al Ittihad Alexandria, Al Hadithah, and Al Nile.
However, the Egyptian Cupwas canceled on more than one occasion.
The tournament was not held between 1967 and 1972 due to the setback, and it was also canceled in the 1973-1974 season due to the October War. The cup was also canceled in the 2011-2012 season due to the events of Port Said Stadium in the match between Al Masry and Al Ahly in the league.
Zamalek won the title of the first edition of the Egyptian Cup, after defeating Al Ittihad 5-0, in the 1921-1922 season. After that, Tersana won the second title in 1922-1923, and Al Ahly club won its first title in the tournament in 1923-1924. After that, Al Ahly’s dominance of the tournament began, and Al Ahly club won the title of the tournament 38 times, while Zamalek won the cup 28 times.
However, Ismaili, Al Olympi, Enppi, and Haras El Hodoud won only two titles, and the Dervishes came in second place 4 times, Enppi and Al Olympi twice each, and Haras El Hodoud team was satisfied with winning the title twice.
The Egyptian club won the title once in its history and came in second place 8 times. Al Qanah and Al Tram tied in winning the title once. They were also runners-up once.
The question here remains who is now responsible for presenting the cup to the winning team? Because among the coronation ceremonies and old customs of the tournament, the Grand Yaoran himself hands over the cup, but this time we do not know how the cup will be handed over.
