Egypt's Sports Minister El-Amry Farouk has stepped down on Tuesday, a source close to the minister told Ahram's Arabic-language sports website.

"The minister returned home after finishing his work at 3 p.m. and then sent one of his representatives to the ministry to hand in his resignation," said the source, who was not named.

Farouk becomes the sixth minister to depart following massive rallies demanding that Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi resign.

The ministers of parliamentary affairs, tourism, environment and communication tendered their resignations to Prime Minister Hisham Qandil during the last few days. However, he is yet to respond to the move.

Farouk was appointed as sports minister last summer. He was credited with pressuring authorities into resuming the Egyptian Premier League after a one-year stoppage but was involved in several disputes with the hardcore football fans of Cairo giants Ahly and Zamalek.

Crowd troubles earlier this year prompted Farouk to impose an indefinite crowd ban, incurring the wrath of the die-hard fans who have recently defied the sanction to attend several league games.

Farouk was also at loggerheads with the chairmen of Ahly and Zamalek due to a controversial new law governing the board of directors' elections.

The new law, which was eventually put on hold, would have prevented most of Ahly's current members from running in the upcoming elections later this year.

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