Ibrahim Mansour, sports editor for Al-Watan newspaper and website, has sharply criticized the Egyptian Football Association’s current administration, led by Gamal Allam, claiming that it has “failed in every matter.”
Mansour’s remarks come in the wake of the Egyptian youth team’s heavy defeat, losing 5-1 to Morocco, a result he says exemplifies the state of Egyptian football under Allam’s leadership.
Speaking on the radio program The Sweet Game with Khaled Al-Ghandour on ON Sport FM, Mansour expressed disappointment with the association’s recent performance.
“The Gamal Allam council has added nothing new to Egyptian football,” he stated.
“They have failed to effectively manage any issue, and the recent defeat of our youth team against Morocco underscores this era’s deficiencies.”
Mansour went on to highlight his view that Hani Abu Rida, a respected figure in Egyptian football, is poised to succeed Allam.
“For clarity’s sake, Hani Abu Rida will be the next president of the Football Association without contest.
He will face significant challenges, but I believe he is the only one capable of leading the association following these repeated failures.”
In a surprising statement about the future of Egyptian officiating, Mansour revealed that Abu Rida intends to seek the expertise of FIFA’s Head of Refereeing, Massimo Busacca.
“Engineer Hani Abu Rida plans to engage Massimo Busacca to conduct regular training sessions with Egyptian referees, although he won’t be leading the committee,” Mansour explained.
Mansour also pointed out Abu Rida’s reservations about appointing a foreign expert to head the Egyptian refereeing committee, citing past instances where experts Mark Clattenburg and Manuel Pereira made minimal impact on the nation’s refereeing standards.
“Abu Rida is cautious about bringing in foreign officials to head the committee due to past issues with Egyptian referees, and he believes Clattenburg and Pereira added little to the system.”
Additionally, Mansour clarified rumors surrounding Mahmoud Taher, former president of Al-Ahly, regarding his potential involvement in upcoming football association elections.
Taher, Mansour noted, turned down the offer to run as Abu Rida’s deputy.
Mansour concluded with his belief that Abu Rida holds no issues with former national team players Hossam and Ibrahim Hassan, adding that the twins are expected to play a supportive role in the national team setup if Abu Rida takes over leadership of the Egyptian Football Association.
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