Gezira Sporting Club
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| Club | |
| Genre | Sports |
| Founded | 1882 |
| Founder | Anglo-Egyptians |
| Headquarters | Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt |
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Key people
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Mohamed Z. Moussa Chairman |
| Website | www.geziraclub.com |
The Gezira Sporting Club (Arabic: نادى الجزيرة الرياضى, transliteration:nādī al-ǧazyrah al-reyādī) is the largest multi-sport facility in Egypt. It was founded in 1882 and was originally called Khedivial Sporting Club. It is located on the island of Zamalek in Cairo.
The 150-acre (0.61 km2) grounds of the Gezira Sporting Club were initially carved out of the Khedivial Botanical Gardens, and as a result acacias and gardens continue to decorate the area. After the land had been formally leased to the British military command in 1882, club rules were licensed and the land was divided into several recreational playing grounds. At first, the club was for the exclusive use of the British Army.
Membership was restricted to applicants elected by the committee, on the recommendation of two members, although British army officers were automatically enrolled. There were about 750 members. The entrance fee was E£ 2. The various subscriptions were as follows:
Guests could visit the club whenever accompanied by those members by purchasing Day Passes for 5 piastres.
In 1906, the club members asked the Egyptian government for ownership, but their request was refused. Instead, they were granted a 60-year lease.
The exclusive character of the club continued until after World War II. In January 1952, the club was nationalized and became a public club. By this point, most members of the Gezira Sporting Club were Egyptians, but the club's members were from society's elite. As a result of nationalization, the ethos and structure of the club were to be altered during the Nasser regime. Half of its eighteen-hole golf course were given over to a youth club built by the Egyptian government on the club premises (making it a nine-hole course). Much of what was deemed as a traditionally asset was nationalized for the benefit of the poorer majority. These actions made the Egyptian president at the time, Gamal Abdel Nasser, loved and popular among the middle and lower classes of Egypt.
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Wikipedia