Egypt FA apologize after Olympic team failure

Ahmed Abd El Rasoul , Tuesday 8 Dec 2015

Egypt
Egypt's Olympic team (Photo: Ahram Sport)

The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has officially apologized to Egyptians after the recent failure of the Olympic team.

"We apologize to the Egyptian people after the recent elimination of the Olympic team from the Africa Cup of nations," reads a statement by the EFA.

The young Pharaohs said goodbye to the coming Olympic Games in Brazil with a surprising failure in the group stage of the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Senegal.

They experienced a 1-0 loss to already-eliminated Mali Saturday that left them at the bottom of their group following two draws against Algeria and Nigeria.

"We offered full support for the Olympic team. We will discuss the reasons behind this failure in a meeting on Wednesday," EFA's board member Mahmoud Elshamy told an Egyptian radio station on Tuesday morning.

The EFA thanked the Olympic team coach Hossam El-Badry, despite his failed mission, and is expected to begin a search for his successor.

"El-Badry's contract has expired already as he was appointed to lead the team until the Olympic finals," EFA boss Gamal Allam reportedly said after the exit.

El-Badri’s men finished at the bottom of Group B with two points, three behind Nigeria and Algeria who advanced to the last-four stage after playing out a goalless draw.

Egypt reached the quarter-finals in the 2012 London Games after qualifying for the Olympics for the first time since 1992, but they will not be present in Rio de Janeiro next year after a Nations Cup campaign to forget.

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