The Late Ali Sibai … The Greatest Football Fan from Africa … The Troubadour of Football …
All football fans have seen Sheik Ali Sibai … the Egyptian in the red fez … supporting fans at all the big FIFA games … Ali Sibai was from Egypt … a trained engineer … he arrived in the USA in 1994 for the World Cup and he stayed behind … and eventually became a US citizen (so the story goes)!
The video was recorded on a chance meeting in Paris ... a very interesting moment ... an hour spent following Ali Sibai around Paris while he is constantly entertaining local people in Paris.
His story from a brief conversations is as follows - He was an engineer in Egypt and a fan of Al Ahly ... After coming to America during the World Cup in 1994 he stayed behind ... he said he drove taxis in New York for little while, did some work as an engineer but he loved people and he loved football … he had other jobs, but traveling and football were his joy … so he returned to Egypt and so his journey began … the guy in the red fez wherever football matches were played … He was often seen at African Nations Cup matches, Gulf Cup Matches, Arab Champions League … He enjoyed the patronage of wealthy sponsors and was flown to matches across the world!!! He was truly a man of the world, he held Egyptian and American citizenship ...
Sadly Ali Sibai died in June last year (2009) after a brief illness just as the FIFA Conferderations Cup was beginning … The World Cup in Africa is incomplete without Ali Sibai … if you are going to South Africa, wear a red fez in honor of Ali … hold up a picture of him or play a guitar … Sheik Ali we miss you! وداع !!!
Sources: http://www.mbc.net of Cairo and video interview in Paris, France.
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