The Port Said disaster forced the cancellation of this season's Egyptian Premier League
World governing body FIFA said on Wednesday Egyptian clubs are not allowed to unliterary amend the contracts of their players despite the cancellation of the Egyptian Premier League in the wake of the Port Said disaster.
Reports suggested some league clubs are considering ordering their players to take pay cuts to avoid the dire effects of the Egyptian Football Association decision to call off the league this season.
The Premier League clubs, many of whom are cash-strapped, are likely to struggle for survival, given the huge financial losses they are expected to incur in the coming few months.
"After having duly taken note of the contents of the documentation submitted to our attention, we understand that following the tragic events that occurred in Port Said at the beginning of February, your association has decided to suspend all football activities until further notice," FIFA said in a fax sent to the EFA.
"In this connection, your association as well as several of your affiliated clubs are seeking for guidance as to the possibility for the clubs to either reduce the salary payable to their players ... or to extend the duration of the terms of the contract for a period equal to the time the national championship has remained suspended.
"In this respect, we would like to point out that, as a general rule, contracts need to be respected in accordance with the terms originally agreed between the parties."
"Furthermore, we would like to state that in line with this general legal principle, basically, the terms of a contract may only be modified or amended if both parties to the contract agree."
It remains to be seen whether the clubs would follow FIFA's instructions, given that many of them had already failed to pay their players before the league was cancelled.
Cairo giants Zamalek were involved in a dispute with striker Amr Zaki that lasted for several months. The Egyptian international sought to terminate his contract at some point, accusing the club of failing to fulfill their financial obligations towards him.
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