Ahli warned their players on Thursday against dealing with the rivals of the club's sponsors Vodafone. Reports said four Ahli players shot a television advert for mobile operator Etisalat Egypt, a unit of UAE-based Etisalat, ahead of their team's African Champions League meeting with Tunisian side Esperance. The Egyptian unit of British mobile telecoms group, Vodafone, has been sponsoring Ahli's football team since 2002. "We received information that some of the team's players shot ads for one of the competitors of the club's sponsors," Ahli football director Hadi Khashaba said on the club's official website. "If those ads are televised the players will be heavily fined out of respect for the contract Ahli signed with the sponsors. "The players will incur any fine imposed on the club by the sponsors if the ads are broadcast." Ahli had to encounter similar problem last season when coach Hossam Al-Badri and several players were due to appear in Etisalat's television commercials. "The players were instructed to fulfill all the clauses of Ahli's contract with the sponsors," Khashaba added. "Any violation of those instructions is unacceptable and will be dealt with instantly."
