ACCC: How Sharkia President Elsayed Khaled's songs inspired team to glory

How often do you see a club president get involved in a build up to a game at the elite level?

Well fans who managed to catch the Africa Cup for Club Champions tournament held in Nairobi in the past seven days witnessed a club president play a part in a build up, albeit in an interesting way.

Egyptian side Sharkia clinched the men's title after humbling Exchequers of Ghana 4-2 in the final staged at Sikh Union on Sunday.

The Ghana Revenue Authority team claimed gold in the women's category after topping the standings in the five rounds played.

Sharkia won the tournament unbeaten, a testament of the quality of their players and the investment the management has injected in the team in the past years.

Interestingly, the team had skipped the continental tournament in the past years so as to put its house in order and strategize on how they will successfully deliver the 26th title.

Sharkia's warm up to their matches was one of its kind as the club's president Elsayed Khaled was always involved albeit from a distance and in a way that stood out.

Khaled had made an interesting habit of grabbing the microphone during the warm up and singing his lungs out from outside the pitch as a way of motivating his players.

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His profiency behind the microphone had won him admiration from fans and fellow administrators whenever his team was in action.

I caught up with the club's captain Ghobran Hossam who revealed the significance of their president's songs in the build up.

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"His songs are special to the team. He used them to pass a message, reminders and most importantly, to psyche us up. Through his singing, we get to know that our allowances will be out on time and what may be in store if we win. He is our number one fan," said the attacker who scored twice in the final.

Hossam who dedicated the win to the Egyptians said the backing from their club president and his charisma had been a rich source of confidence during the tournament that was powered by leading gaming firm Mozzart Bet.

"He is an easy guy whose kindness and leadership keeps us united. Winning matches becomes easy if the boss has confidence in his players," he stated.