Coach Hossam Hassan said he hopes Zamalek will not be distracted by Wednesday's court ruling to disband the club's board of directors. Determined lawyer Mortada Mansour, a life-long Zamalek fan and a controversial figure in Egypt, had his appeal against the validity of the club's presidential election, which was held last year, accepted by the court of law. The court said some votes had been rigged to favor businessman Mamdouh Abbas, who beat off competition from Mansour to become Zamalek's chairman in May 2009. Abbas, who was criticized for his handling of Zamalek's disputes with the Egyptian FA, and his entire board will be relieved of their duties accordingly. An interim board will be in charge of the Cairo club until new elections are held. "We need stability to resolve some issues within the club. We don't want to be distracted by what happened," coach Hassan, who was appointed by Abbas in November last year, told FilGoal.com. "Shikabala's new contract is yet to be registered with the Egyptian for instance. "We also want to extend the deals of (defenders) Hani Saied, Mahmoud Fathallah and (midfielder) Hassan Mostafa." The court ruling has cast the future of forward Shikabala into doubt although he recently penned a new contract with Zamalek to rebuff an approach from Belgian giants Anderlecht. Mortada, who was the president of Zamalek from 2005 to 2006 before being sacked by the National Sports Council, was critical of Shikabala's 'childish acts' during his previous term in office. Reports have linked central defender Fathallah, who is an integral member of Zamalek's squad, with a move to arch-rivals Ahli. The Egyptian international's current contract runs out next summer. Ahli said they would open talks with him over a possible move if he was available. "We hope that all these things will be sorted out with the new board," Hassan, under fire himself after Zamalek made a poor start to their Egyptian Premier League campaign, added. "I belong to Zamalek, I do not belong to a certain board of directors. I will deal normally with any new chairman."
