CAIRO: Modern Sports satellite channel is suing Alaa Sadek for LE 5 million for violating their contract after he stormed off the set and resigned on air Friday night.
Sadek in turn filed a complaint against Waleed Daebas, the channel’s chairman, for allegedly offending him during a phone conversation, he told Daily News Egypt.
On his show “Cairo last Friday, Sadek apologized to the viewers and walked out of the studio following a dispute between him and fellow hosts.
I m going to leave and not spend one more day with those ignorant people, he said referring to Medhat Shalaby and Mahmoud Maarouf, also sports commentators on Modern Sport.
Shalaby and Daebes weren’t available for comment, despite of many calls by Daily News Egypt to their offices.
Sadek said he already signed a contract with Nile Sports TV for a new show scheduled to start next month.
“The contract I signed with Nile Sports closes the door on any attempts by Modern Sports for reconciliation, he added.
The dispute began last week over the 2010 World Cup qualifying matches when Shalaby said on his show Night Lights that Egypt has to beat Algeria 2-0 to advance to the World Cup.
A war of words began when Sadek criticized him on the show, saying he was ignorant of FIFA laws since Egypt needs to win 3-0 to qualify.
Shalaby retaliated by calling him a parrot . Meanwhile, Maarouf also criticized Sadek for his stance towards Egypt’s national football team and for prematurely congratulating the Algerian team for going to the World Cup.
Sadek said he will take legal action against both commentators in the coming few days.
“First of all I’m going to file a lawsuit against Medhat Shalaby for insulting me on his television show on Modern Sports, he said.
“In addition, I will file another defamation suit against journalist Mahmoud Maarouf for comment he made about me in Al-Gomhuria newspaper, Sadek said.
Sadek admitted that he gained a lot of experience at Modern Sports, adding that he “benefited tremendously whether financially or in terms of the fans I’ve gained as it got me closer to the audience, he explained.
Sadek said he received a lucrative offer from Al Ahly Sports Club to head its television channel, which he immediately turned down.
“I would never work for a club’s television channel as it will make me biased, in one way or another, to this club, he explained.
On the sports blog Egyptian Soccer, fans criticized how TV hosts use their shows to settle personal disputes to the detriment of the Egyptian media.
“We are starting to see the consequences of giving sports commentators or former players their own shows on television . these are specialists in their own fields but are not professional media presenters, wrote Mahmoud Abdel Khalek, a soccer fan, on the blog.
While some spectators were on Sadek’s side and supported his resignation, others disagreed, saying this is not an appropriate way to handle such situations.
