Almost all Egyptian clubs and sports federations recently won the approval of their general assembly members to give the green light to their own regulations and statutes. Except Ahly. According to Mohamed Kassab, media director at the Egyptian Ministry of Sports, Ahly were the only club who opposed the new National Olympic Committee (NOC) guideline regulations. “According to the new law, all sports clubs and federations were asked to hold their general assemblies on one day at the main premises of the club or the federation. Only Ahly went against the rule and decided to hold it over two days and at two premises, Gezira and Nasr City. The NOC and the ministry notified them that violating the law would lead to nullifying the general assembly, but they still went ahead with their plans,” Kassab explained. “Accordingly, the NOC decided to implement its regulations on Ahly who will have to hold their elections according to the NOC regulations. And this too will be applied to any club or sports federation which has not set its own regulations or held its general assembly by 31 August,” Kassab added. The NOC executive director Mamdouh Al-Sheshtawi confirmed that the NOC has already taken action and applied its guideline regulations to Ahly. “We have published the decision in the official gazette,” Al-Sheshtawi said. Taher “We are really glad with the cooperation of almost all sport clubs and federations in Egypt and their respect for the law and the guideline regulations. A total of 145 sports clubs and 39 sports federations have already held their general assemblies according to the new law. Some federations like the modern pentathlon and table tennis have already held their elections while others have set dates. The NOC is giving those who haven't announced their election date a week's notice. The deadline for holding the elections is 15 November,” Al-Sheshtawi added. Surprisingly, while Ahly officials and members of the board remain silent, reports claim that the current board of directors and its president Mahmoud Taher have formally complained to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as they believe they have not violated the law and that there was no kind of irregularity in holding the general assembly over two days. It is also being reported that the opposition in the club are suing club president Taher for squandering millions of pounds of the club's money by holding the general assembly over two days when he knew that it could be annulled. For some, the current five-member board are busy campaigning for the elections of the new board in two months. Taher and his men are facing a tough challenge since the other candidate is no other than the legendary footballer Mahmoud Al-Khatib who recently announced he was running for the president's seat and named his list of renowned sports dignitaries and former board members of the club.
