The funeral of the Electricity Rowing Club’s canoe and kayak champion Mohamed Amr Mostafa was held amidst sorrow and outrage at a mosque in his hometown of al-Jalatma in Giza on Sunday, a day after his body was recovered from the Nile River in Zamalek after his boat capsized.
As the body left the mosque, Mostafa’s mother fainted and his father burst into tears which in turn caused the late champion’s friends to break down – a sign of how well-beloved he was by his community.
Mostafa, a student in the second year of secondary school, trained at the Electricity Rowing Club on Abul Fida Street in Zamalek for five years and won third place in the Republic Championship.
The middle brother of two brothers and two sisters, he would undergo the long journey from his village to the club all for the sake of his dream.
The body of the rower arrived at Zeinhom morgue on Sunday morning, where it became clear that there was no foul play suspected and that he had drowned.
The Public Prosecution then authorized his burial.
While waiting to receive the body from the morgue, Mostafa’s grandfather told Al-Masry Al-Youm that “He had been training since six am, and when his father called him he said, ‘One more lap and I will come back.’ His coach told us that he disappeared and then hid from us because he was neglectful and left our son alone without safety measures.”
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Ashraf Sobhi, announced his sincere condolences on the death of Mostafa and ordered the Egyptian Canoe and Kayak Federation to review all measures.
The federation revealed that the player went missing on Saturday, following the discovery of the boat and oar, while training under the supervision of the club’s technical staff in front of its headquarters located on Abul Fida Street in Zamalek.
The federation announced in a statement that several decisions had been taken after the Ministry of Youth and Sports ordered a review of all procedures related to security and safety – including health codes – until all investigations into the incident are done.
These include stopping work at the river marina used by the Electricity Rowing Club, stopping all canoe and kayak activity at the Club, and suspending the coach and his assistant from work.
The federation moved to form a technical committee which began work on Sunday to inspect the implementation of security and safety procedures in all clubs, the statement added.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
