- After Egypt qualified for the World Cup, its president gave a large bonus to each of the national team players
- But many Egyptians are living in poverty, made worse by an ongoing financial crisis
- Many took to Twitter to lambast the decision
- It comes at a time when excessive spending by Sisi's regime is coming under scrutiny
With millions of Egyptians living in poverty, their president has found the money to hand out one-and-a-half million Egyptian pounds to each player from the national football team.
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi gave the bonus, equivalent to $85,000, after the Pharaohs made World Cup qualification following a 27-year drought.
Egyptians are overjoyed at securing a place in the tournament for only the third time in history.
That has not stopped them from raising an eyebrow at Sisi's apparent extravagance amid a financial crisis that has seen ordinary people suffer soaring food, fuel and electricity prices.
مليون ونص لكل لاعب علشان صعدوا ببركة دعا الوالدين وشطارة #محمد_صلاح
— Hamada El-Naggar (@el_naggar2003) October 8, 2017
وأكتر من 60% من الشعب المصري ماعندوش صرف صحي وتحت خط الفقر#السيسي_مجنون
A million and a half to each player because they qualified thanks to the prayers of their parents, and the genius of #Mohamed_Saleh More than 60 percent of the Egyptian population does not have a sewage system and [lives] below the poverty line.
إذا قبلت ورضيت ان يصرف السيسي لكل لاعب في المنتخب مليون ونصف مليون جنيه في مباراة كرة ..فلا يحق لك ان تشكو من الغلاء لأنك تستحق ما انت فيه
— علاء الأسواني (@AlaaAswany) October 8, 2017
If you accept and are content that Sisi spends one and a half million [Egyptian] pounds on every player in the national team for a ball game... then you do not have the right to complain about the high prices because you deserve what you have.
#السيسي_مجد_مصر.
— mohamed eid (@MohamedEidfaka) October 9, 2017
وادي مليون ونص لكل لاعب وزياده جنيه ونص علي لتر البنزين حلو كدا كأني ولا حاجه حصلت .
اشطاااا علّيا
Giving 1.5 million to every player, and adding 1.5 pounds on to [the price of] every liter of petrol. That's great, it's almost like nothing has happened (the expense is cancelled out).
After the al-Massa Hotel costs 1.2 billion Egyptian pounds, then bonuses are rewarded to each player in the team in excess of of 3 million pounds. And they tell you that "we are really, really poor". I swear this people deserves greater hunger than this. And in the coming period, be ready for very painful economic decisions. Truly a people that deserves the best.
The al-Massa Capital luxury hotel was unveiled on Friday to considerable criticism from Egyptians.
It is located in a new administrative capital that is being built to ease pressure on overpopulated Cairo, construction of which is expected to cost $45 billion.
Meanwhile, food prices have risen 43.6 percent in a year, according to Middle East Eye, with inflation hitting a 30-year high in April at 31.5 percent.
France ?
No.#Egypt where the military splurges on a new hotel and the average #Egyptian lives on less than $5 a day. pic.twitter.com/fZubyp8eJi— Amr Khalifa (@Cairo67Unedited) October 7, 2017
Like Sisi said, we 'all' have to make sacrifices. Obviously, the military's hotel division is not included. Happy 6th of October! https://t.co/xMeMhAo5mI
— Timothy E Kaldas (@tekaldas) October 6, 2017
Egypt’s recent financial woes began when the pound was floated in November, seeing its value reduced by almost half in consequence. That was one measure among a number of tax hikes and subsidy cuts required to guarantee a $12 billion IMF loan.
- 'A stale packet of chips': Here’s what five Egyptian pounds will buy, according to cash-strapped Cairenes
- Egypt's Sisi Wants to Build Space Agency as Citizens go Hungry on Earth
Criticism for excessive spending is not limited to sportspeople and building projects, however. The establishment of Egypt’s new space agency, announced in August 2016, has also angered many in Egypt.
Rather than such flashy projects, it is felt that money would be better spent subsidizing food for the nation’s poor.
Still, not everyone was critical of Sisi’s generous gifts to the national team, with one Twitter user claiming that players had donated the money to charity.
منعا للإشاعاات ....
— حجاج حسين ريحان (@2015Even) October 9, 2017
مصر هاتحصل علي 200 مليون جنيه نظير الوصول لكاس العالم ...
يعنى مش خسارة فى كل لاعب مليون و نص
To prevent rumors... Egypt will get 200 million pounds for World Cup... [That] means no loss in giving each player 1.5 million.
For some, the qualification was even evidence of Sisi’s success in office, with "Sisi is the glory of Egypt" trending soon after the qualifying match.
#مبروووك
— Mohamed Rachid (@MBRachid) October 8, 2017
مع #السيسي #مصر تهزم الإرهاب و فايروس C، تنجز القناة الجديدة، تبني عاصمة ومدن و طرق حديثة و تتأهل للمونديال#مصر_قمر14_لمونديال2018
#Congratulations. With #Sisi #Egypt defeats terrorism and virus C, completes the new canal, builds a modern capital, cities and roads and qualifies for the World Cup
Sisi, who seized power in a 2013 military coup, nonetheless remains a contentious figure. Opposed by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, he also faces growing discontent over his handling of the economy, wtih incidents like these not helping to smooth tensions.
