Zamalek's ousted president Mortada Mansour entered the club on Sunday after a Cairo court revoked a government decision to dissolve his board of directors and vowed to avoid violence, pledging calm reclaim of authority. "I won't repeat what (ousted president of Al-Wafd party) Nooman Gomaa did. Things will stay calm," Mansour told members in his first visit to the club since December. The Egyptian lawyer was referring to what happened in the Egyptian oldest opposition party on Saturday when Gomaa broke into the Al-Wafd's headquarters to reclaim office, leaving 27 people injured. Mansour was accompanied by tens of supporters who raised Zamalek's flags and chanted slogans but he didn't try to regain office and said he may attend the team's training session late on Sunday. In December, Egyptian former Minister of Youths and Sports Mamdouh Al-Beltagi decided to dissolve the Zamalek board of directors citing major administrative errors and appointed a provisional administration headed by prominent journalist Morsi Attalla. But Mansour filed a lawsuit demanding to regain power and his appeal was accepted by court.
Attalla Attalla also remained calm and said his administration has nothing to do with the ruling and that Higher Council of Sport (HCS) is responsible for handling the situation. HCS head Hassan Saqr said earlier that the ruling is not final and an appeal is underway but insisted the HCS will respect the rule of law if a final decision is made. "We respect the Egyptian judicial system, and if our appeal is turned down and the court makes a final ruling, we will uphold it," he said. ---------------------------------------------- *Additional reporting by Mohamed Sabe
