Ahly infuriated by late return of Egyptian international players

Published on: 16 November 2017

Holders Ahly resume Egyptian Premier League action on Thursday but the build-up to their match against El-Entag El-Harby was overshadowed by a dispute between the club and the Egyptian Football Association over the late return of international players.

The Red Devils have only played three league games although the competition enters its ninth round, with their African Champions League commitments forcing the postponement of six matches.

Ahly were held to an opening draw by Talae El-Geish but have since recovered with two easy wins over Ittihad of Alexandria and Ragaa.

They will be eyeing a third consecutive win when they meet El-Entag as they seek to put aside the disappointment of failing to win a record-extending ninth Champions League title after a 2-1 aggregate defeat by Morocco's Wydad Casablanca in the final earlier this month.

Already-qualified Egypt held Ghana to a 1-1 away draw in their final World Cup qualifier on Sunday but Ahly were enraged after the national team flew to Saudi Arabia afterwards to perform the Muslim lesser pilgrimage, known as umrah.

The unscheduled visit to Saudi Arabia meant Ahly's international players reported back to their club later than scheduled, with reports suggesting the team might be forced to rest some of them against Entag.

"Ahly have the most representatives in the Egypt squad and things should have been coordinated with us," the club's football director Sayed Abdel-Hafiz said in a television interview.

"What happened has nothing to do with professionalism … the Ghana match was played on Sunday and then the players went to Saudi Arabia and returned to Egypt late; how can we play against El-Entag?"

Egyptian Football Association chief Hani Abou-Reida apologized to Ahly, saying the mistake was "unintentional".

But Ahly will face El-Entag without first-choice keeper Ekramy, who was left out of the squad, and central defender Rabia after he picked up an injury against Ghana.

Source: Ahram Online

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