The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir today received Gianni Infantino, president of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), on the sidelines of his presence in Egypt to attend the Africa Cup of Nations final next Friday.
He was received by Sabah Abdel Razek, Director General of the Egyptian Museum, and toured the museum's various exhibition halls. She said the tour began with a visit to the temporary exhibition "Sports Through the Ages", which Minister of Antiquities Dr. Khaled El-Enany opened last June to celebrate Egypt's hosting of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. The exhibition includes 96 artefacts reflecting the sports that attracted the interest of the ancient Egyptians to maintain physical fitness, as they were also keen to train their children to practise sports from an early age.
The FIFA president's visit included the Royal Mummies Hall, the collection of "Yuya and Thuya", the Tanis Hall and the hall of King Tutankhamun's collection, where he expressed his great admiration for the museum and the unique and ancient artefacts it holds, especially the golden mask of King Tutankhamun, the statue of Sheikh El-Balad, the statues of King Amenhotep III and his wife Queen Tiye, and the statue of King Khafre.
The FIFA president was impressed by the path designed for blind visitors with special needs and the way they get to know the artefacts through Braille, which the Minister of Antiquities opened at the museum in June in cooperation with the Italian side. It includes 12 artefacts from different eras of ancient Egyptian civilisation, starting with the Early Dynastic Period, then the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms, then the Late Period and ending with the Greco-Roman period. The selected pieces are made of hard Egyptian stone such as granite, and during the tour of the path, blind visitors can identify each piece through Braille identification cards and electronic audio devices.
At the end of the tour, the Director General of the Egyptian Museum presented the FIFA president with an archaeological replica of a human-shaped statue topped by the crown of the deity Shu. Infantino wrote a message in the museum's visitors' book describing his visit to the museum's halls as wonderful and dazzling, and saying that the museum displays artefacts that reflect the history, civilisation and culture of all humanity. He ended his message with the phrase: "Amazing history and a great future for Egypt."
