The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) received approval from the African Football Confederation (CAF) declaring Al-Gouna stadium as the host venue of both African fixtures for the two Egyptian clubs Ahli and Zamalek. Ahli meet Congo's Leopards on Saturday while Zamalek take on Orlando Pirates of South Africa on Sunday. Since demonstrations broke out in Egypt in July after the ousting of Mohamed Morsi as president, El-Gouna has been the safest place where Egyptian teams can play their African fixtures. However, it has been tiring as they have to play under the sun since the stadium is not equipped with floodlights. Which is why the almost 20,000-seat stadium was rejected by FIFA as a host venue for Egypt's 2014 World Cup qualifying fixture against Guinea on 10 September. As such, the Military Stadium at Borg Al-Arab remains Egypt's last option and the EFA has been counting on the approval of the military and police forces to secure the match or Egypt will have to select a neighbouring country as an alternative venue. But Egypt playing its home game abroad means portraying a negative image of Egypt's stability and safety. Both games would be held behind closed doors for security reasons, though it has been open to fans at Al-Gouna. The administrations of both teams were surprised when the EFA said CAF stated that no spectators would be allowed. However, it was discovered that CAF's decision was only a reply to the EFA who sent to the African body declaring Al-Gouna as host venue to both games “without fans”, which means that it was EFA's decision in the first place and CAF simply approved it. Accordingly, both teams are angry as they prepare for the game. Ahli club football director Sayed Abdel-Hafiz blamed the EFA for taking such a decision without first consulting the clubs. “We were not informed. Why didn't they tell us? We need our fans to come and support us in our matches, especially that the other matches which saw fans were incident free, so why now ban them from this game?” Abdel-Hafiz asked. Ahli were scheduled to fly to Al-Gouna yesterday, Wednesday, after finishing a three-day training camp in Cairo where the team played a friendly game against Shebine, a second division team and won 1-0. On the other hand, Zamalek decided to travel to Al-Gouna just 24 hours before the match to avoid clashing with the training schedule of Ahli who had made its arrangements at Al-Gouna first. Head coach of Zamalek Helmi Toulan has been working hard with the team so that the players can overcome their humiliating 4-0 defeat to Orlando Pirates in South Africa a fortnight ago. The Egyptian team is still in high spirits knowing it will play its remaining three matches of the competition at home. According to Toulan, the team is focused on taking full advantage of playing at home without having to go through the hectic travels of Africa. The two popular Egyptian clubs, who have dominated Africa's top club competition in the past, are both competing in Group A where Pirates lead at the halfway mark with seven points with three games to go. Ahli have four points along with Leopards and Zamalek are rooted to the bottom of the group with a single point. On the other hand, Egypt's national team head coach Bob Bradley announced the Pharaohs squad that will represent Egypt at the Guinea game on 10 September. The line-up had a balanced selection but fans were stunned to see Egypt's famed goalkeeper Essam Al-Hadari not on the team. The player, who plays for Marrikh of Sudan, though surprised, said he respects the decision of the head coach and finds it an opportunity for him to focus more with his Sudanese team. Finally, this week new Sports Minister Taher Abu Zeid visited the Egyptian Football Association to witness the latest developments of the restoration of the headquarters which was torched in March by opponents of a court verdict which involved the Port Said disaster in which 72 football fans died in a soccer riot last year. Abu Zeid said he was doing his best to get the approval of the military to host the Egypt game against Guinea. He said Egypt was very close to making it to the finals of the 2014 World Cup. The minister also said that he hopes Egyptian sports would resume soon once the country stabilises. “Safety and security are very important for sports to resume. Once that happens we will kick off, not only in football but all kinds of sports,” Abu Zeid said.
