Zamalek chairman calls for ending league now 'for national team's sake'

Mahmoud Sheleib , Thursday 23 Jun 2022

Zamalek chairman Mortada Mansour called on Thursday for the immediate ending of the ongoing season of the Egyptian Premier League (EPL) to allow the “exhausted players” to rest before starting the new season in August.

Mortada Mansour
File Photo: Zamalek chairman Mortada Mansour taken on 19 May, 2022. Photo courtesy of Zamalek Facebook page.

 

“The league must stop now and start the new season in August for the sake of the Egyptian national team, or else the players will end up in the hospital. Also, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) and the Premier League board must resign, and hold a meeting between the league clubs’ chairmen,” Mansour told El-Shams TV channel.

Since the pandemic erupted, domestic football has been disturbed with seasons overlapping giving the players no time to rest and a hectic run of fixtures. Without adequate time to rest nor proper pre-seasons preparations, the players have been deeply impacted.

“I like Gamal Allam [the head of the EFA] and respect him, but he is not fit for the presidency of the association," the fiery chairman said.

“Ahly is responsible for the fatigue experienced by the players during the league and the Egyptian national team matches at the present time, due to its refusal to cancel the league during the COVID-19 season despite all clubs agreeing to the cancellation, and Zamalek had no objection to Ahly crowning the league at the time,” he added.

The Zamalek president also said that the clubs need to talk with Sports Minister Ashraf Sobhi to set a cap on player contract fees, proposing the suspension of transfers for three years to lower rates between EGP 3 to 15 million.

The current season of the Egyptian Premier League started on 25 October 2021 and as previously scheduled it is set to end by 30 August.

The new season of the EPL is scheduled to begin in October and will conclude by the start of June 2023, according to EPL Board Member Amer Hussein.

The ongoing league season games witnessed several postponements due to the teams’ participation in the continental tournaments as well as national team commitments.

Zamalek are leading the Egyptian Premier League table with 48 points after playing 22 games so far this season, four points over rivals Ahly, who played 3 games less.

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