AHLI Chairman Hassan Hamdi and his board of directors will lead the club for the coming four years after winning internal elections. The elections process took place in a democratic and well-organised atmosphere at the club's main premises in Gezira. For the first time in the history of the club, 21,093 club members participated in the elections. The number could have been more had it not been July, the season when Egyptians are spending their summer vacations if not abroad then on the northern coast, in Alexandria or other seaside resorts. Those who participated in the elections suffocated from the heat. Members and the media called on the National Sports Council to change regulations that state that all club elections are to take place during the months of June, July and August. The demand is to change that to October, November and December, when weather conditions are better and all club members are in town. The elections result was announced by Chancellor Farouk Qassem. Voting opened from nine in the morning and closed at 8pm, after which the vote counting process started and continued until the early hours of the next day. From the beginning of the count it was clear that Hamdi and his board faced no competition from their rivals, except one, Al-Amry Farouk, who was going head to head with Mahmoud Bagneid, the club's former treasurer, until the last five ballot boxes were opened and Farouk started taking the lead. So, all of Hamdi's men are back in the same board: Mahmoud El-Khatib, Khaled Mortagy, Khaled Darandaly, Ranya Elwany, Hisham Said and El-Amry Farouk who was this year running independently. Club members were seemingly happy with the results, asking the board to fulfil its promises as in past years. Chairman Hamdi, a former club defender and dubbed by fans and the media as "the minister of defence", announced he was happy with the endorsement and in regaining the "full trust" of members. The new demands of club members include building a new stadium for Ahli Club, African club of the century. And the other demand was to start the construction of the club's third premises in 6 October governorate. The club bought land and signed a contract with much huge celebration almost three years ago, but real work never started. Maintaining the stability of the club team and returning to success as the new season begins is another demand from members who were disappointed this season when Ahli failed to win anything except one championship title, the national league, losing the FA Cup and the Super Cup to Harras El-Hedoud as well as being eliminated from both CAF competitions, the Champions League and the Confederations Cup.
