An Egyptian court sentenced Zamalek president Mortada Mansour for six months in jail on Saturday on the charge of smearing his Ahli counterpart, Hassan Hamdi. The Zamalek president, who publicly offended Hamdi after the clubs' semi-final in the African Champions League last season on-air, appealed the ruling as soon as it was announced. Mansour held a press conference during which he attributed the club's ongoing problems to Egyptian Council for Sports president Hassan Sakr's choice of Zamalek board members. Mansour also stressed that he refused the club board's decision to allow vice president Raouf Gasser to sign on any documents if the Zamalek first-man refused to, and insisted that it was against the club's regulations. Former Zamalek treasurer Mamdouh Abbass also faced accusations from Mansour that he was the one responsible for duo Tarek Al-Saied and Mohamed Sadik's move to Ahli, due to his failure to negotiate new deals with the players. Nevertheless, Mansour insisted that Zamalek were in no need for Al-Saied and demanded that the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) bar Sedik after “conspiring with Ahli”, during their final match that ended in a 2-0 victory for the latter, according to him. The Zamalek president concluded by revealing that Ittihad Jeddah president Mansour Al-Balwi is going to donate the sum of two substantial deals to the Egyptian club during the coming few days. An unnamed businessman is also going to support Zamalek's bid for a new deal that would “shake the entire Ahli foundation,” as Mansour described.
