Pyramids FC playmaker Abdallah El-Said was ordered to pay Ahly $2 million after breaching a clause of his contract with his ex-club more than two years ago, the Egyptian Sports Settlement and Arbitration Center (ESSAC) ruled on Saturday.
El-Said, who played for Ahly from 2011 to 2018, joined Egypt's Pyramids FC from Saudi Arabia's Ahli on a free transfer in January 2019.
Ahly lodged a complaint with the ESSAC, saying they should receive $2 million over a breach of an agreement they struck with Ahli regarding El-Said's move to the Saudi club in the summer of 2018.
The agreement stipulated that the Jeddah club should pay a penalty to Ahly if El-Said joined an Egyptian club during the duration of his contract.
Ahli Jeddah argue that they had terminated the veteran schemer's contract before he sealed a move to Pyramids.
FIFA said last year it had no jurisdiction on the matter, referring it to the Egyptian FA.
"El-Said is now obliged to pay $2 million to Ahly … for violating the terms of the deal whereby he was transferred to Ahli Jeddah," the Red Devils said in a statement on their official website.
El-Said's agent told local sports website FilGoal that his client was not informed that there was a case against him. He said he would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to annul the verdict of the ESSAC, which is affiliated to the Egyptian Olympic Committee.
The 35-year-old, one of the mainstays of a powerful Ahly side in the past decade, was involved in a bitter dispute with the club when he signed a deal with his team's Cairo nemesis Zamalek in early 2018 as his contract approached its end.
He then backtracked on his decision and opted to stay at Ahly, who were still intolerant, punishing the player by telling him he had no future at the club.
El-Said then spent two months on loan at Finnish club KuPS before joining Ahli Jeddah in the summer of that year. His brief tenure in Saudi Arabia was brought to an end after he moved to Pyramids in January 2019.
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