Hassan Shehata rejects Abu Rida’s trip to Turkey to reconcile with Mohamed Salah

Hassan Shehata has criticised the idea of Hany Abu Rida travelling to Turkey to make peace with Mohamed Salah after the Egypt captain was substituted by Hossam Hassan.

Shehata, the former Egypt manager, said a coach must be allowed to make his own decisions during matches, regardless of the player involved.

His comments came after Egypt began their first match under Ali Maher with a 5-0 victory over Malawi. Maher took charge following Hossam Hassan’s departure from the position in recent days.

“The circumstances were different when Hossam Hassan substituted Mohamed Salah and when I substituted Mido, but the principle was the same,” Shehata told MBC Masr. “The coach has to choose his players and deal with them as he sees fit.”

Shehata said disagreements between managers and players were not unusual, particularly inside the dressing room.

“Sometimes, of course, there is anger towards the coach in the dressing room,” he said. “For example, in the match against Brazil, you should have seen what happened to the players at half-time.”

He also defended Hassan’s right to replace any player during a game.

“Hossam Hassan has the right to substitute any player on the pitch, even if he is the blue genie,” Shehata said. “Salah is one of 11 players. The coach should substitute whoever he wants, and then the Football Association can hold him accountable afterwards. They did hold him accountable and he left.”

The former Egypt manager said the Football Association should not have intervened by sending Abu Rida to meet Salah over the incident.

“It is not right for the Football Association to travel in order to seek forgiveness from a player because of what happened,” he said. “What happened was not caused by Hossam Hassan; it was a family matter and no one should interfere in it.

“That is why I rejected Hany Abu Rida travelling to Turkey to reconcile with Salah.”

Shehata added that he would have taken the same position regardless of the player’s status or reputation.

“If I had been asked to travel to any player, I would certainly have refused, no matter what his name was,” he said.

He concluded by questioning whether a manager should lose his job because of a dispute involving one player.

“Can a coach leave because of a player?” Shehata said. “That is exactly what happened.”