CAIRO - Jean Claude Dupont, president of the World federation of carom billiard (UMB), has witnessed a historical moment in world billiards: the African representatives of Egypt, Libya, Congo, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, Cameroun and South Africa attended a meeting in Caïro last week, on Saturday, March 24, They welcomed the founding of an umbrella that will unify all the African federations of carambole billiard.
The status and constitution of the African Carom Confederation, the official name, has been adopted and approved at the latest on 30 April by all board members.
Last week, during the meeting of those countries in Cairo, the Egyptian Alsharif Alhussein has been elected as the first President.
Kozoom had an interview with the chairman of the new confederation.
Portrait:
Name: Alsharif Alhussein
Lives in: Cairo, Egypt
Born: 17 August, 1963
Relationship status: married
Children: two boys, Alhassan, 22, Hazem, 18
Frits Bakker: What is your current position in the world of billiards. Are you a member of a club? And are you a player yourself?
Alsharif Alhussein: ,,I started playing when I was 18 years old and before I was elected as board member of the Egyptian Federation of Billard sports. I was president of the Rivoly billiard club, the oldest and most famous billiard club in Egypt. And I was the public relations responsible for the World Cups in Hurghada for ten years.’’
,,I am member of the Gezira Sporting Club in Cairo and the Club of marine sports in Hurghada. And as already said, I am a board member of the Egyptian Federation and last week I was elected as president of the African Carom Federation.''
FB: What was your role in the period prior to the meeting of the African Confederation?
Alhussein: ,,Because many African federations have carom disciplines and players wanted to develop their level of playing and participate in competitions, both nationally and internationally, the idea of founding an African Carom Federation was discussed and approved by the members of the Egyptian federation. Then, I proposed the idea during the last General Assembly of the UMB in Valencia. It was welcomed by the UMB president and by all present confederations and federations.’’
FB: Who was in contact with all African federations in the past?
Alhussein: ,,The president of the Egyptian Federation (EFBS), Mr. Mohamed El Kammah, is also the president of ABSF, the African Billiards and Snooker Federation, so he is in contact with all African federations. He introduced me to them and we started to discuss the idea of the umbrella confederation. We agreed to meet each other in Cairo for the inaugural meeting.''
,,The status and the constitution have been adopted and we decided to revise it by all board members, to approve it at the latest on 30 April 2013. That is the reason why the African Carom Federation will not be officially declared before this date.’’
FB: How is the current status of the African carom billiards. We all know that Egypt has a long history and culture in three-cushion, but what about the other African countries. How many people play carom. And in how many countries people play three cushion?
Alhussein: ,,The carom sport is not yet well developed in Africa. It is played only in four or five countries, but with the Egyptian history and expertise in carom, I suggested many training programs and mutual visits between Egyptian coaches and players and the federations with less experience in this sport. For now, probably, Egypt has the best chance to organize the next African championship 2013, but I will do my best to inspire other African countries to organize and host the championship in the near future.''
FB: How do you actually see the future of Africa as a confederation in the global billiards?
Alhussein: ,,The enthusiasm towards carom I found from the participating federations in our meeting made me sure that the future of carom billiard is a bright one and I am also sure that more African federations will follow into joining the new African billiards family.''
FB: Who are the board members that have been chosen last week?
Alhussein: ,,I myself am the elected president. Furthermore:
Mr. Mustafa Elhuny, vice-president (Libya)
Mr. Paul Bileng Miaka, vice-president (Congo)
Mr. Mohamed Elmotaz, secretary-general (Sudan)
Mr. Rachid Afoun, treasurer (Algeria)
Mr. Rachid Fahim, member (Morocco)
Mr. Mveng Evina, member (Cameroon)
Mr. Saths Reddy, member (South Africa).''
FB: Mr. Farouk Barki is very known in the international billiard sport: he is a member of the UMB and CEB. Will there be a role for him in the new Confederation?
Alhussein: ,,Mr. Farouk Barki is an elected UMB board member and also CEB vice president, but during a friendly conversation with Mr. Barki, he expressed to me that he wishes to withdraw his candidature as vice president of CEB in the next General Assembly in Brandenburg, due to the creation of African Carom Federation and that Egypt is going to join the new Confederation. But I still believe that such a decision depends only on his personal point of view. Concerning his position as board member of the UMB, I am sure that this will have a positive impact on the cooperation between the African Carom Confederation and the UMB.''
FB: Will you be nominated for a position within the UMB after your election as president?
Alhussein: ,,Mr. Jean Claude Dupont stated that according to the constitution of the UMB, every confederation president is automatically nominated vice UMB president.’’
FB: How did Mr. Dupont react to the founding of the confederation in Cairo?
Alhussein: ,,He has supported the initiative since the first day we discussed the idea. His presence during the founding meeting had a great role in its success. I personally want to thank him for his presence and for his continuous support for Carom in Africa.’’