Egypt and Merreikh goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary will be available for the upcoming 30 June qualifier against Central African Republic, as he will not play with his club in the CAF Confederation Cup on the same day.
The 38-year-old long-time Egypt keeper terminated his loan contract with Egypt's Ittihad when his salary wasn’t paid due to the financial crisis resulting from the suspension of all domestic football competitions after the Port Said disaster on 1 February.
Merreikh's Brazilian coach Ricardo included the former Ahly, Zamalek and Ismaily goalkeeper in his squad for the Confederation cup match against South Africa's Black Leopards, but the Confederation of African Football (CAF) rejected the matter.
According to Ahram Sport, CAF have officially informed Merreikh that the player can't play with them as he didn't appear in the tournament when it begun.
CAF said that the veteran guard can only play with the Sudanese giants if they managed to qualify for the tournament's group stage.
The winners of seven African trophies are in a do-or-die situation as they must beat CAR by two goals in Bangui to overturn their 3-2 home defeat in the first leg.
(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter: @AO Sports / and Facebook AhramOnlineSports)
Short link: