History

As the 19th century was about to end, foreign communities residing in Egypt started thinking about establishing clubs. Accordingly, several social and sportive clubs were established. This system reached its pick at the beginning of the 20th century at cities such as Alexandria, Port Said and Cairo. These clubs included: Fencing Club- Sporting Greek- Million Greek for Gymnastics- Cycling Fans Group- National Italian Union- Roma Italy- Boxing Club at Cleopatra- Savoya Italian Football- English Savolic Fencing Club- Egyptian Fencing Club- Mixed Italian… etc. Then Egyptian nationals took their turn and they established several clubs including: Al Seka Al Hadid (Railway Club)- Al Ahly Club (National Club) - Sporting Club- Al Jaziera Club- Heliopolis Club- Maadi Club… etc. Community clubs constituted the majority (26 clubs), in addition, they had many capabilities and many wealthy personalities; they were also protected by certain authorities and diplomatic bodies and included many of those who learned in Europe and had connections with sport bodies abroad.

The existence of all these clubs meant that there should be a system to bring them together in competitions and games. Thus, the Mixed Federation for Sports Clubs was founded in 1908 and it was chaired by Mr. Angelo Bolanaki (an Alexandrian citizen from Greek origin). Most of the members of this Federation were foreigners (due to the political situation of Egypt at that time). French was the language of this Federation and all its documents, rules, resolutions and minutes. This Federation started to organize the Egyptian championships from 1908 until 1910 and conclude international agreements between Egypt and other countries such as France, Norway and Hungary. Moreover, some sport federations were established such as: Athletics, Swimming and Cycling in 1910.

Angelo Bolanaki was the first athlete in Egypt to participate in international sport competitions outside Egypt. After his retirement from participation in sports competitions, Angelo Bolanaki formed special clubs. The first club he founded in Alexandria was named General Sport Club and it combined all kinds of sports. In 1910, this club became the sport federation in Egypt under the auspice of Khedive Abbas Halim II and Prince Omar Toson. Meanwhile, Comte Pierre De Coubertin, the International Olympic Committee President, had nominated Mr. Angelo Bolanaki to be a member of the International Olympic Committee and its representative in Egypt as he thought that he had potentials enabling him for this mission.

After Mr. Angelo Bolanaki was appointed at the International Olympic Committee (June 1910), he established the Egyptian Olympic Committee in 13 June 1910 in Alexandria under the patronage of Khedive Abbas II. This Committee included Prince Omar Toson as President, Amin Yahia Pasha as Treasurer, Mr. Angelo Bolanaki as Secretary General and Ahmed Zewar Pasha, Alexandria Governor at that time, as member. It also included representatives from the different sport federations in Egypt. Egypt then started to enter the Olympic field by participating in Stockholm Olympic Games in 1912 with one athlete only in fencing, Mr. Ahmed Hassanein who was at the time student at Oxford University.

Since 1914, there was a prevalent thought to take over the sport federations controlled by foreigners and turn them into independent Egyptian federations where each sport could have an independent Egyptian federation that can manage this sport apart from the control of the Mixed federation. This thought strengthened after the return of the Egyptian delegation form Anvers Olympic Games 1920.

In 1928, after Amsterdam Olympic Games, the Egyptian Federations managed to raise their number and work on the completion of making the federations purely Egyptian and independent from the control of the Mixed Federation and its system and it refused to participate in the Egyptian Olympic Committee; something which led to its disintegration in 1929.

At the beginning of 1930, Egypt received an invitation to participate in the 11th Olympic Games at Los Angeles from 30 July to 14 August 1932. The invitation came from the United Nations Commission in Egypt to the Foreign Ministry which referred it to the Ministry of Education as it was the respective Ministry at that time. Since the Egyptian Olympic Committee was disintegrated in 1929, the sport federations were invited to convene on 18 February 1932 to display this invitation and they rejected it because Egypt was represented by a foreigner in the IOC. The IOC President then suggested annexing an Egyptian Member besides Mr. Angelo Bolanaki, but this proposition was not welcomed by the Egyptian sport and non sport bodies and the Egyptian authority issued its white Book where it rejected this proposition.

The sports federations' opinion was based mainly on the idea that the victory achieved by Egypt on the international sphere gives it the right to ask the IOC to find, very easily, Egyptian personalities fit for occupying such posts. Moreover, Article (7) of the code of the Olympic Games and Article (9) of the General rules stipulate that for a country to be represented at the Olympic Games, it must be represented by its nationals.

This problem remained for two years until the IOC Conference was held in Athens on 17 May 1934. On 9 May 1934 a decree was issued concerning the organization of the National Committee for Egyptian Sport and the formation of the Egyptian Olympic Committee. Another decree was issued to appoint Mohamed Taher Pasha as president of the National Committee and both Gaffer Wally and Sherif Sabrey his deputies for four years.

At Athens Conference, the IOC decided to recognize the organization of both the National and Olympic Egyptian Committees and appointing Mohamed Taher Pasha as IOC member and its representative to Egypt.