Ismaily chairman Mohamed Raaif rejects resignation talk amid claims of campaign against club

Mohamed Raaif, chairman of the appointed committee running Ismaily, says he has no intention of resigning despite the pressure surrounding the club.

Ismaily are competing in the Professional League after being relegated from the Premier League, and currently sit second from bottom with two points from their opening five matches.

“I have never thought about resigning, despite the pressure,” Raaif told Modern Sport. “I am a professional man. I use pressure from the fans and social media as motivation, not as a reason for frustration, and I have never been used to running away from a challenge.”

Raaif said the club’s situation required a wider organisational overhaul, comparing Ismaily to a company in need of restructuring.

“I look at Ismaily as a company that needs to be restructured,” he said. “My colleagues on the committee and I are working together on that, and I am confident we have the ability to achieve it.”

He described relegation to the Professional League as a major blow, but said it could also provide an opportunity to rebuild the club.

“Ismaily’s relegation to the Professional League is a great disaster, but it is also an opportunity to reorganise the club and restore it to how it used to be,” Raaif added. “That is what we are already working on.”

Raaif also said progress was being made both on and off the pitch, including in the club’s sporting and investment plans.

“Our work at Ismaily is going very well, which will strengthen the club, both technically and financially,” he said.

The immediate priority, he explained, was resolving the club’s registration dispute.

“The first step in our plan to rebuild Ismaily is to resolve the registration crisis,” said Raaif. “I am confident the club’s fundraising campaign will be enough to do that.”

He confirmed that Ahmed Abdel Monem “Koshary” had been appointed as head coach because of his experience in the Professional League. However, Raaif said people from Ismailia had urged Koshary not to take the job.

“For the first time, I am revealing that people from Ismailia asked him not to coach the team,” he said.

Raaif claimed one individual, who allegedly says he influences events in Ismailia’s sporting community and will one day become Ismaily president, contacted Koshary directly and told him the registration issue would not be resolved.

“This is very strange to me,” Raaif said. “The same people are contacting foreign players and asking them not to be flexible in negotiations with us because the registration crisis will not be solved. The time will come when we reveal everything openly.”

He added that three players were training with the first team while waiting for the registration ban to be lifted so they could join in January, although he did not want to disclose their names yet.

Ismaily face Al-Rabat Wal-Anwar on Tuesday evening in the third preliminary round of the Egypt Cup. They then play Tanta on Friday, 9 October at 16:00 in the sixth round of the Professional League.

Koshary took charge following the departure of Ashraf Khodr.