Ismaily appoint Ahmed Koshary after Ashraf Khodr resigns

Ismaily have appointed Ahmed Koshary as their new head coach after Ashraf Khodr resigned following the club’s 2-1 defeat by WE in the second round of the Professional League.

The Ismaily board also approved the departure of Khodr’s backroom staff, comprising Ahmed Fikri El-Saghir, Mohamed Sobhi and Ahmed Khalifa.

Khodr’s resignation came after he became involved in confrontations with Ismaily supporters following the loss to WE. Hossam Ahmed and Yasser Zahleq scored for WE, while Anwar Saqr converted a penalty for Ismaily.

The result left Ismaily with defeats in both of their opening Professional League matches. They had begun the campaign with a 3-1 loss to Masar in the first round.

Khodr confirmed his decision to leave in comments to FilGoal.com, saying: “I have already submitted my resignation. There are some people who come to matches just to insult me, even though I have never caused a problem with anyone throughout my life.”

He also claimed some of the individuals involved were not genuine Ismaily supporters.

“The people who were present at today’s match against WE were paid by well-known pages, and there were some I saw for the first time. They are not supporters of the club,” Khodr said.

“These pages are the ones that caused the club to be relegated, and more than one page played a role in that.”

Khodr acknowledged that he had reacted emotionally during the incident, but insisted his relationship with the club’s genuine supporters had not previously been problematic.

“That is what made me lose my temper, and as a professional, it certainly should not have happened, especially as I became emotional during the situation,” he said.

“Ismaily’s real supporters are above my head. I have never created a problem with them before, and they know that.”

Koshary now takes charge of a side attempting to recover from a difficult start to the season. His appointment follows the board’s decision to accept Khodr’s resignation and remove the wider coaching team that had worked alongside him.

The article also references Amir Azmy’s work at Abu Qir Fertilizers during the previous season in the Professional League. Azmy helped the club secure promotion to the Premier League.