Mohamed Diab Al-Attar, widely known by his nickname “Ad-Diba”, was one of the most prominent Egyptian footballers of the immediate post-World War II era. He was recruited to his hometown Al Ittihad Alexandria Club, the most popular in Egypt outside of Cairo, in 1944, and in 1948 helped them capture the Egypt Cup, in addition to being the Egyptian Premier League’s top scorer (a distinction he shared with El-Sayed El-Dhizui). He was also selected to be a part of Egypt’s football delegation to that year’s Summer Olympic Games, but did not participate in any of the matches. He was also given an opportunity to represent Egypt at the 1952 edition, but ultimately did not take part. He did, however, have his share of international successes, helping his country win the first edition of football at the Pan Arab Games in 1953 and the inaugural Africa Cup in 1957. He was also the top scorer at the 1957 tournament with five goals scored, one of which built upon a goal scored by Raafat Attia to defeat host nation Sudan in the semifinals, while the rest provided a 4-0 shutout of Ethiopia in the finals.
Ad-Diba retired from active competition in 1958, after his club was relegated to the Egyptian Second Division, and became an international football referee. Among the major tournaments he presided over were the 1968 African Cup of Nations (most notably, the final), the 1972 Gulf Cup of Nations, and the 1976 Summer Olympics. Outside of sports, his career was listed as a water manager and a journalist. In 2007 he was named by the Confederation of African Football as one of the 200 greatest African footballers of all time.
Egypt