Renowned football commentator and retired footballer Mahmoud Bakr passed away on Wednesday at the age of 72.
Bakr reportedly died of kidney failure, according to Al-Arabiya, on February 3 at a military hospital in his home province of Alexandria.
Bakr, a former player for Alexandria’s Olympic Club, contributed to winning the team’s sole premier league title in 1965.
Being a former army officer, the 1967 war with Israel put an end to Bakr’s career as a footballer, causing him to switch to administrative work after he finished his military service. He served as the Olympic Club’s chief in 1990 and 2001, and was a former board member at the Egyptian Football Association.
In the 1980s, Bakr began his starring commentary career on radio and TV. With funny cliches, insightful analyses and successful forecasts of game twists, Bakr gained popularity as Egypt’s much-coveted commentator for TV channels.
Unforgettable was his famous comment during the Egypt national team’s encounter with the Netherlands during the 1990 World Cup in Italy, the last one Egypt would qualify for. “Justice has landed on the Palermo Stadium,” he said jubilantly when the referee ordered a penalty kick for Egypt, turning its 1-0 defeat into a draw.
“To whoever is out at his balcony for a cigarette, to whoever just began following the match, come in, a goal has been scored,” said Bakr as he commented on most of the goals.
It would be normal for Egyptian viewers to hear Bakr complaining to directors about a screen glitch, or voicing discontent with cameramen turning focus to fans instead of a daring counter-attack on the field, things that his fans quipped and laughed about.
In the middle of his commentary, Bakr would change the game by pleading to Alexandria’s municipal officials to address a certain problem touching the daily lives of the city’s residents.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
