Al Wihadat in Bangladesh

Al Wihdat players training in the hallways of their hotel!

Yesterday in Al-Ghad there was a fascinating piece on the cover of the sports section about the ‘suffering’ of the Jordanian Al Wihdat football team which is currently in Bangladesh to play against a local club in the context of the Asian Football Confederation Cup.
It’s a story of a shitty hotel, an inadequate bus, lack of training because of ‘political unrest’ and even lost baggage! The whole ordeal is being published on the amazingly active and constantly updated website of the club. Headlines like ‘A trip to the Unknown’, ‘Al Wihdat Finally Trains’ and ‘The Suffering Continues’ tell of what the players had to go through in the past few days.

A picture in yesterdays Al Ghad (which I couldn’t find again today) showed the players crammed in a bus with tired/shocked looks on their faces as they drove through Dhaka. Their hotel, according to the article, is a ‘popular’ (read: poor) area full of ‘street sellers’.

I am sure the boys will be happy to be back home in Jordan after this excursion to the Third World. According to club officials they were expecting things to be difficult in Bangladesh but not THAT difficult. They’ve written to the Asian Confederation to complain.

Coming to think of it, maybe the government should organize mass trips for Jordanians to Bangladesh. While not trying to belittle the social and financial challenges we face in Jordan, I think that trips to really poor areas of our planet might put things into perspective for those who are always complaining how bad we have it.


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3 responses to “Al Wihdat football team discovers the REAL Third World”

  1. meme Avatar
    meme

    Alweehdat had very hard days in Dakka

    there is nothing to eat no where to play

    Alweehdat suffered very much

    Today alweehdat won 2/1
    for Mahmood shelbaiah

  2. Pheras Avatar
    Pheras

    Hmmm, last time I checked I thought we are part of the third world…having Starbucks and a Mac Store doesn’t make us a developed country man…

  3. Omar K. Hasanat Avatar
    Omar K. Hasanat

    Yet another funny thing that happened that the whole game was shooted using only one camera from a very strange position; behind one of the goal keepers!

    Anyway, I kinda agree with the saying (elle beshoof balawi elnas bethoon 3aleh balwetoh).