What is a hopeful story of an Egyptian YouTuber ambition in English football with Dagenham & Redbridge, it quickly became one of the most chaotic public relations disasters in recent memory.
Only five days after announcing his entrance to the Dagenham and Redbridge FC, the creator of Egyptian content Marwan Serry withdrew from the club, and with him, a community commitment strategy that the club had never been a Bepore witness.
The dramatic ascent and the fall of this brief association, driven by the virality of social networks, the public reaction and the general controversy, has left all the parties involved to make sense of what has just happened.
A viral vision
On Monday, April 15, Marwan Serry appeared in Sky Sports To announce its new role as co -owner or Dagenham & Redbridge, a team from the Liga Liga Langua near the bottom of the fifth level of England.
Unlocking with enthusiasm, Serry compared his entry into the property of the football club with “a child playing FIFA”, promising to bring global Arab support to the modest attire of eastern London. He was alone, joining him was Salma Mashhour, an influencer of the Egyptian-British social networks, appointed director of development and commitment of the club.
Together, the couple imagined a Wrexham -style transformation of the Daysham brand, fed by the content, the commitment of fans and strategic sponsorship. And the number of a look at what could have a leg; The club’s instagram tracking increased from 13,000 to more than 300,000 in just two days. According to reports, conversations beg with announcers such as Dazn. Serry said that the main brands throughout the Middle East and North Africa were expressing interest. But chaos was about to continue.
The consequences begin in Dagenham and Redbridge
Only one day after the announcement, Mashhours fits publications on social networks resurfaced, participulate in an Instagram story in October 2023 in which she has opinions regarding the Palestinian-Israel conflict, contextualizing the Palestinian resistance. He thought he clarified in the follow -up statements that his publication did not support any form of violence, the reaction was rapid.
The British Jewish News website first reported in the publications. A request was launched that demanded the elimination of the duo in Change.orgLocal sponsors expressed concern, and club executives asked to rethink the appointment. Although Mashhour insisted that her message was of empathy and context, Dagenham, Salma and Marwan Serry found themselves in a volatile intersection of football, politics and online indignation.
Thursday, April 17ThOnly 72 hours after his appointment, Dagenham annulled that they have fired Sall Mashhour without prior notice. She learned through a tweet.
Serry, blind for the decision and affirming that he had no role in the elimination of Mashhour, released a video that denounced the movement and asked for a boycott or the next Day Ham. “We will not compromise our principles,” he said. Announcing his complete retirement from the club.
What followed was a wave of conflicting reactions. The activists accused the club to bow before the antipalestine and xenophobic pressure. The critics of Serry and Mashhour questioned how some without a large investment or concrete financial support had an elevated leg to such a prominent role in the first place. The supporters complained that the entire project felt as “a trick”, especially given the FIFA’s analogy of Marwan Serry.
The tensions were at the boiling point. The supporters accused the group owned by abandoning the club’s values, while others said that the club was now “a political battlefield.”
The biggest image
Dagenham and Redbridge tried to modernize and globalize their image, but failed in all kinds of ways. A club that fights against the descent was plunged into debates about genocide, racism, xenophobia, freedom of expression and political identity.
Serry insists that the experiment was sincere and that legal action is being considered. Mashhour says that order has damaged her professional reputation and has resulted in threats to her safety. Meanwhile, the club’s remuneration leadership is trying to direct the team back to football, even as online indignation continues to turn.
What, as a campaign of a modest club to promote growth, has exposed how volatile a mixture of social justice, identity and culture of football can be mediated when it is mediating through social media platforms?
Anyway, in a single week, Dagenham went from a local club with modest ambitions to an international headline, caught in a storm he never anticipated.
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