With just over two weeks to go until the 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship throws-off, ihf.info brings you the very latest updates from Egypt.

IHF President receives hall-naming honour

In honour of ‘Egyptian sports figures who have contributed in promoting Egyptian sports’, the Egyptian Ministry of Youth and Sports have renamed the newly-completed ‘6th of October Sports Hall’ the ‘Dr Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall’ in recognition of the efforts of IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa to promote Egyptian sport on the global stage.
 
The 5,200-capacity hall was built for the 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship in Egypt and is based in the heart of the 6th of October City, part of the historic Giza Governorate, home to the Great Pyramids of Giza, just over 30km from Cairo.
 
In a letter to Dr Moustafa notifying him of the name change, the Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports Dr Ashraf Sobhy said the renaming was in “recognition and appreciation of your efforts in promoting Egyptian sports in general and handball on the national, regional and international level”.
  
For Egypt 2021, the hall will host two preliminary groups, Group A (Germany, Hungary, Uruguay, Cape Verde) and Group E (Norway, Austria, France, USA), as well as Main Round Group III, matches in the President’s Cup and one quarter-final.

IHF President, Egypt Prime Minister visit Cairo Stadium

This past weekend saw IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa and Egyptian Prime Minister Dr Moustafa Madbouly pay their latest visit to the Cairo Stadium Sports Hall to inspect the final preparations in the arena, which will host both the opening and closing ceremonies, and medal matches of Egypt 2021.

They were joined by Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports, Dr Ashraf Sobhy and Major General Ali Darwish, Head of the Cairo Stadium Authority, and representative of the Engineering Authority for the Armed Forces.

The group viewed all parts of the complex which will be used for Egypt 2021 including the playing hall, VIP lounges, dressing rooms, playing court and conference hall as well as receiving an overview and walkthrough of the variety of COVID-19 precautionary measures which will be in place, including social distancing and for which Dr Madbouly stressed firmly how important their strict application and adherence was to the success of the championship.

The hall which will host games within the complex has increased its possible spectator capacity to 16,200 spectators and has received a number of upgrades to its flooring, lighting, walls, ceilings, spectator seating, media areas, and technology, including high-speed internet connection.

Ministerial update meeting

Ahead of the Cairo Stadium site visit, Dr Madbouly held a meeting with a number of other governmental ministers to discuss the very latest status of the Egypt 2021 preparations.

Ministers participating included Khaled El Anani (Minister of Antiquities and Tourism), Major General Mahmoud Tawfik (Minister of Interior), Dr Hala Zayed (Minister of Health and Population), Mohamed Manar (Minister of Civil Aviation) and Dr Sobhy, in his position as Minister of Youth and Sports. They were joined by Dr Moustafa and Egypt 2021 Organising Committee Director Hussein Labib.

Dr Madbouly focused on the safety and medical precautions set for all participants and stressed the importance of coordination among all ministries and authorities involved before and during the event. He went on to explain how Egypt is exerting a huge effort to produce a great, world-class championship, which has meant a huge expenditure on infrastructure.

Dr Sobhy then gave an overview on the preparations of the opening and closing ceremonies, the medical health and safety plans that will be applied, the readiness of all venues and training halls and the various scenarios planned in case of the detection of any COVID-19 infection.

Dr Moustafa thanked Egypt's Head of State Abdel Fatah El Sisi for his continuous support to all related matters to the event and gave his appreciation to all of the efforts by all ministries and authorities involved in the organisational process of the 32-nation tournament.

Tickets on sale, song to be released

The Egypt 2021 Marketing Commission revealed that tickets are set to go on sale this week for fans, with marketing campaigns and material appearing on streets, in squares and at tourist areas in Cairo and Alexandria.

An official Egypt 2021 song in both Arabic and English, sung by Egyptian actor Tamer Hosny, will be released soon.

Photos: Egypt 2021