Egypt's friendly international against Ivory Coast, which is scheduled for August 21st, could be cancelled due to Ahli and Ismaili's continental inter-club commitments, national team coach Hassan Shehata said on Wednesday. The match that was originally scheduled for August 22nd in Paris was previously moved a day earlier as not to overlap with France's international friendly with Slovakia. But now, the new date appears to be causing a conflict for the Egyptian side that has a number of key-players from Ahli and Ismaili. "CAF announced the fixtures for the Champions League and Confederation Cup and now Ahli and Ismaili have away games between the 17th and 19th," Shehata told FilGoal.com. Ahli will travel to Khartoum to take on Al-Hilal in Group B of the Champions League while Ismaili will play Dolphins FC in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. "Ahli and Ismaili players will not be able to return to Cairo in time to join their national teammates before leaving to Paris to play the game on the 21st.
Shehata is frustrated "The choice of fixture dates by CAF really put us in a tight spot," added Shehata. Shehata said that the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) will try to convince the Ivorian team to play the game in Cairo instead of Paris, but noted that he is not banking much on the outcome. "Most of Ivory Coast's team plays in Europe, and I don't think they will be willing to come all the way to Egypt to play the match. "This really comes as a strong blow for our preparations ahead of the 2008 African Cup of Nations," he added. African champions Egypt are close to securing their place in the 2008 finals in Ghana as they lead their Group B with 7 points, three ahead of second-placed Botswana halfway through the qualifiers.
