Egyptian FA President Hany Abou Rida backs Hossam Hassan and hails Mohamed Salah leadership

Hany Abou Rida, president of the Egyptian Football Association, confirmed he has no plans to dismiss Hossam Hassan as national team coach after the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, running from 21 December to 18 January.

He explained that Hossam initially had doubts about working with him because he had “heard wrong things”, but those concerns disappeared once they started dealing with each other directly.​

Abou Rida revealed that, after they began working together, they reached a strong understanding and there is no conflict between them, stressing that Hossam even told him he had always hoped to coach Egypt during Abou Rida’s presidency.

The federation chief made it clear he wants Hassan to lead the Pharaohs all the way to the World Cup and that the coach has full backing in this period, adding that some of his comments after the Cape Verde match about striker Mostafa Mohamed were taken out of context.​

He also announced that Egypt will play a high-profile friendly in Qatar in March as preparation for World Cup qualifiers, with the team highly motivated to deliver a big AFCON campaign.

Abou Rida explained that the tight schedule between the Arab Cup and AFCON forced the creation of a second national team under Helmi Toulan for the Arab Cup, while insisting Egypt still aims to compete for the title.

Finally, he praised captain Mohamed Salah as a legendary player with exceptional numbers, an ideal leader and someone who has matured greatly in recent years.