Tarek Soliman set to front Egypt’s media duties for Malawi fixtures

A source at the Egyptian Football Association says assistant manager Tarek Soliman is the leading candidate to represent Egypt at the press conferences for their two matches against Malawi.

Egypt will face Malawi during the next international break in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, but head coach Hossam Hassan will be absent after receiving a three-match suspension from FIFA.

“Tarek Soliman is the closest to attending the press conference for the two Malawi matches because Hossam Hassan has been suspended for three matches by FIFA,” the source told FilGoal.com. “The decision to prevent him from making media appearances has nothing to do with the matter.”

The Supreme Council for Media Regulation announced on Wednesday that Hossam Hassan had been barred from appearing on all media outlets.

A source previously told FilGoal.com that Soliman, Egypt’s assistant manager, would take charge of the team for the Malawi fixtures because both Hossam Hassan and team manager Ibrahim Hassan would be unavailable.

The Egyptian Football Association has already confirmed that it received the sanctions imposed on Hossam Hassan, Ibrahim Hassan and Egypt player Mostafa Ziko.

The three were punished for incidents during Egypt’s match against Argentina at the 2026 World Cup. Egypt lost the last-16 tie 3-2.

FIFA suspended Hossam Hassan and Ibrahim Hassan for three matches each, while Mostafa Ziko was given a five-match ban.

As a result, all three will miss Egypt’s two matches against Malawi in next month’s 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Hossam Hassan and Ibrahim Hassan will also miss Egypt’s first match in March 2027, against Angola.

Mostafa Ziko’s suspension will run until next June. He will therefore miss Egypt’s remaining four matches in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, as well as one additional game.

The sanctions mean that Egypt will be without the suspended trio for both Malawi fixtures.