Abou Rida backs Gharib and Abdel Fattah as ‘trusted experts’ and denies Al Ahly pushed for extra African slots

Hany Abou Rida says the Egyptian Football Association has turned to “people of experience and trust” by appointing Shawky Gharib as technical director of the federation and Essam Abdel Fattah as head of the referees’ committee, while insisting Al Ahly did not ask for an increase in the number of clubs allowed to compete in African tournaments.

Abou Rida, president of the Egyptian Football Association, explained on Al-Nahar TV that both appointments were made on the basis of long-standing expertise and reliability within the game.

“The choice of Shawky Gharib and Essam Abdel Fattah came because they are from the people of experience and trust at the same time,” he said.

He revealed there had initially been consideration of bringing in a foreign coach to lead the federation’s technical direction, but said national policy had favoured Egyptian candidates.

“There was a trend to appoint a foreign technical director for the federation, but the direction in the state is to deal with Egyptians,” he added.

Why Gharib was chosen

Abou Rida said the decision to hand Gharib the role followed a detailed review of candidates’ track records, with specific emphasis on youth development.

“By reviewing the CVs of the coaches, and by looking for a coach who has experience dealing with youth teams, the choice fell on Shawky Gharib because of his great experience,” he said.

He then outlined a wide-ranging remit for Gharib in his new position, stressing that it is primarily an administrative post that nonetheless requires strong technical knowledge.

“The technical director of the federation is required to organise training camps for all the national teams, choose the opponents we will face, and monitor all the training units of the youth and junior teams,” Abou Rida said. “It is an administrative job that requires him to have technical expertise.”

Abdel Fattah’s refereeing brief

Turning to the appointment of Essam Abdel Fattah as head of the referees’ committee, Abou Rida pointed to the former international referee’s experience across the region and in Africa.

“Essam held the position of technical director of the main referees’ committee at the UAE federation, and he also served as head of the referees’ committee in Syria,” Abou Rida said.

“He has connections in the Confederation of African Football, and he is currently giving lectures in Ghana. I am waiting for Essam Abdel Fattah to arrive in Cairo so I can hold a meeting with him.”

Abou Rida also acknowledged tensions within the Egyptian refereeing ranks and expressed hope that Abdel Fattah could ease those disputes.

“Referees have problems with each other, and the old attacks the new,” he admitted.

He praised the performance of referee Amin Omar and his team at recent tournaments, but underlined his ambition to see younger Egyptian officials reach the highest level.

“Amin Omar and his crew delivered a good tournament, but he is 41 years old and has refereed matches at the World Cup,” Abou Rida said. “I hope we will have an Egyptian referee at the World Cup at the age of 25 or 27.”

Licensing rules and financial transparency

On club licensing and financial regulations, Abou Rida said the federation was encouraging greater transparency, including how donations are handled.

“There is no objection to adding donations to the club’s budget,” he explained. “We asked the clubs to open a special account for football, in order to record all expenditures and revenues, to apply the principle of fair play.”

Al Ahly and African competition places

Abou Rida rejected reports that Al Ahly had lobbied him for an increase in the number of clubs allowed to participate in African club competitions.

“Al Ahly did not ask me to increase the number of clubs in the African competitions,” he said.

He did, however, say that North African federations had largely supported a separate proposal relating to the number of seeded clubs from the region in CAF competitions.

“All the North African countries praised our request to increase the number of classified clubs,” he said. “I am Egyptian, but I am a representative of the North Africa region in CAF, and the number of clubs that win African competitions from the north is greater.”

Zamalek’s push for African licence

Abou Rida also highlighted the efforts made by Zamalek to meet the criteria for an African club licence and resolve their financial issues.

“Zamalek made a great effort to solve its crises and obtain the African licence,” he said.

He disclosed that the club had recently made a significant payment as part of those efforts.

“The last cheque transferred from Zamalek was dated 24 July, with a value of 2 million dollars,” he revealed.

According to Abou Rida, Zamalek were also the biggest contributors to the federation’s share of player contract fees last season.

“Zamalek was the club that paid the highest figures last season,” he said. “They paid 70 million Egyptian pounds as the federation’s share in player contracts.”