Sayed Abdullah, known as “Neymar,” the winger for the Zamalek football club’s first team, disclosed that Al Ahly club had swiftly altered the regulations of the youth league to secure victory in the league championship.
Speaking in a television interview on MBC Egypt, Neymar explained the circumstances surrounding the alteration of the league regulations.
He recounted, “In the 2020-2021 season, in the final match of the league, we faced Al Ahly at their stadium. Al Ahly needed to win against Zamalek by a margin of 5 goals to clinch the league title.
Since the championship matches were not home and away fixtures but single-round matches, goal difference was used to determine the league champion.”
He further elaborated, “Al Ahly needed to defeat Zamalek by a margin of 5 goals to win the league title.
However, they defeated us by a score of 2-1, indicating that Zamalek was the league champion.
Despite our celebration of the title, we found Al Ahly and Enppi club also celebrating, as they had equal points with Zamalek and Al Ahly.”
Neymar revealed the sudden change in the regulations, stating, “The regulations were clear, and we had shared them in the group.
We joked about the idea that we would defeat Al Ahly by five goals.
However, the regulations were changed afterward. Al Ahly altered the regulations within 3 minutes.”
He continued, “As we were entering the match, we had the regulations with us.
Suddenly, everything changed.
While we were celebrating, they were also celebrating, and my Enppi colleague told me that they had won the league.
As players, we believed that we had won the league as per the regulations.”
Neymar’s revelations shed light on the controversial alterations made to the league regulations, raising questions about the integrity and transparency of the league management.
