For the past 4 days, the internet blew up with the story of former Egyptian wrestler, Tarek Abdel Salam who went from the Shawerma see5 to winning an international championship. And since we witness thousands of lost opportunities in Egypt on a daily basis, lost talents will always be the most destructive. To cut a long story short, there are always two sides to every story, and Abdel Salam seems to have a very interesting side. However, Shobeir has another.
In yesterday’s episode of his show, Shobeir aired a report about the former Egyptian wrestler who started his wrestling career and won himself and Egypt multiple bronze medals in several championships back in 2013 even though he found himself inclined to travel to Bulgaria at some point because of a series of unfortunate events.
After securing his bronze medal, the wrestler suffered from multiple injuries and was treated at his own expense. However, at some point, he had a major injury in his cartilage and requested to be treated at the expense of the Egyptian Wrestling Union. The feedback he got was a big no. His second request to start training for the Olympics at the Egyptian Olympic Center was also rejected because the center was not working. And just like that, the wrestler went for Bulgaria and was dubbed “not that good of a wrestler anyway for Egypt” by the President of the Wrestling Union. So Abdel Salam did go on with his chosen path and won the latest European Championship for Bulgaria, after being treated in the same country.
Shobeir called it a disgraceful act to switch nationalities so shamelessly the way Abdel Salam did. He added that the way the wrestler celebrated his championship glory seemed as if he’s a true Bulgarian and not originally Egyptian by any means. And that love was the main reason behind Tarek abandoning his country.
