Egypt volleyball federation to increase women’s team bonuses after Africa title

The Egyptian Volleyball Federation will amend its regulations to increase the rewards paid to the women’s national team following their victory at the African Nations Championship, executive director Hassan Abed has confirmed.

Egypt were crowned women’s African champions after winning the tournament, which was held in Kenya.

Speaking on Modern TV, Abed said the team deserved a special reception after claiming the title and praised the players for their achievement.

“An heroes’ welcome at the airport is an exceptional event for the volleyball family, and I consider the Egypt players to be beasts,” he said.

Abed described the tournament as a particularly demanding challenge for Egypt, saying the team had competed in an intimidating environment rather than simply a volleyball venue.

“Egypt’s women’s team played the African Nations Championship in a stadium of terror, not just a volleyball hall,” he said. “For us, they are champions because of their emotional composure. To beat Kenya, the dominant force in the sport, on their home ground means our players are champions, and the current generation is among the best in Egypt’s history.”

The victory was made even more significant by uncertainty over the route to Olympic qualification. Abed said qualification had previously been determined through the international rankings, a system that worked against Egypt because of the sizeable gap between the two nations.

“Every time, qualification for the Olympics has been through the international rankings, and that was difficult for us because the difference between us and Kenya was large,” he said.

“However, one week before the African Nations Championship, it was confirmed that the tournament itself would be the Olympic qualifier.”

The federation currently has a set of regulations governing bonuses for players after major achievements. However, Abed said the existing figures did not reflect the significance of the women’s team’s triumph.

“The players have the right to receive rewards after winning the championship,” he said. “We have regulations specifically for this matter, but as a federation we believe the bonus set out in the regulations does not match the scale of the achievement.”

“We will hold a meeting to amend those regulations and set appropriate figures. The Ministry of Sports has also asked us for the names of the players so that it can provide them with bonuses, while the African federation has decided to pay an immediate reward of 20,000 US dollars to the delegation.”

Abed also confirmed that Egypt’s men’s team is due to travel in the coming days to compete in the African Nations Championship, which will also serve as a qualifying event for the Olympics.

The men’s side will be targeting the title, and Abed believes the women’s success has provided an additional lift ahead of their campaign.

“The men’s team will travel in the coming days to play in the African Nations Championship that qualifies for the Olympics, and our goal is also to win the title,” he said. “The women’s team winning the championship has given the men’s team greater motivation.”