An interim committee that runs the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) had its mandate extended for a second time by FIFA, the world governing body said on Friday.

The committee, which is headed by former EFA board member Ahmed Megahed, was due to step down at the end of July. It will now continue to govern Egyptian football until January. 

"The Bureau of the FIFA Council has decided today to further extend the mandate of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) Normalisation Committee until 5 January 2022," FIFA said in a statement.

"The Bureau observed that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the implementation of strict restrictions in Egypt, which has unfortunately not improved to the extent that would allow the normalisation committee to deliver its mandate and convene the EFA General Assembly to conduct elections.  

"The decision to further extend the mandate, which was due to expire on 31 July 2021, was taken with the primary objective of allowing the normalisation committee to fulfil all of the tasks as part of its mandate, which would conclude with the holding of elections for a new EFA leadership."

The current committee took over last January, replacing another interim board that had been in charge since August 2019.

The EFA has not held elections since Hani Abo Rida, a FIFA Council member who was the Egyptian governing body's head at the time, and his entire board of directors resigned in the wake of Egypt's embarrassing last-16 exit at the African Cup of Nations on home soil in the summer of 2019.