Ahly president Hassan Hamdy has denied that his club recently threatened to withdraw from the Egyptian league because of an ongoing dispute about the sale of TV rights to the matches.

In December, Egyptian state television won the rights to broadcast the country's Premier League matches next season for LE70 million ($10 million), after reaching an agreement with the committee that comprises most Egyptian clubs.

Ahly refused to join other Egyptian clubs collective deal, preferring to sell its own TV rights individually like Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona.

"We didn't think of withdrawing from the domestic league at all, but all the same we are sticking with selling the TV rights of our matches away from the collective deal," Hamdy said in the press conference held by the club on Monday.

"Our TV rights were estimated to be LE35 million, so we will hold the tender on time," he said.

Both the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) and the sports ministry are strongly opposing Ahly's decision, while the Red Devils' management has threatened to lodge a complaint against FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

"We will stand by our decision until we get the club rights, and that is not contradicted by the country's interest like what some people say about us," said Hamdy.

"Real Madrid and Barcelona suffered the same pressures when they decided to sell their TV rights separately, but finally FIFA took their side.

"For those who accuse us of betrayal or seeking foreign backing, I want to stress that we gave the Egyptian TV [the right] to broadcast our matches on state channels because Ahly always seeks the country's interest," the Cairo giants president concluded.

According to the agreement between the club's committee and the information ministry, Egyptian TV will be the sole party responsible for selling the rights to satellite channels.

Egyptian television channels suffered dearly because of the cancellation of two successive Premier Leagues due to the country's political turmoil. Most of them were shut down after incurring huge losses.

The league's new season started on 24 December.

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