Zamalek didn't complete the signing of Mido on time because former club chairman Mamdouh Abbas didn't pay the first installment of the deal as agreed. Well-off entrepreneur Abbas promised to help the Whites, who have been suffering a financial predicament this season, land the towering striker in the winter. However, he didn't live up to his promise, according to Zamalek's football director Ibrahim Hassan. "Abbas should have paid for the first six months of Mido's contract," Hassan told FilGoal.com. "But we were surprised by a letter he sent to ask us to deduct the payment from the club's debt to him. "Now we are in an unenviable situation; the club don't have enough money to pay that amount (EGP two million)." Abbas was sacked as Zamalek chief in November after Mortada Mansour, also an ex-president of the five-time African champions, had an appeal against the legitimacy of the club's previous presidential elections accepted. For over a year Abbas gave Zamalek sufficient financial muscle, splashing cash to bolster the team and offering their stars lucrative contracts. But after he was relieved of his duties the Cairo side sank deep into the red and now they owe Abbas EGP 40 million. "We will try to find other businessmen to support us," Hassan concluded. Mido, who terminated his deal with Ajax Amsterdam early this month due to lack of first-team opportunities, should have put pen to paper at his boyhood Zamalek last week.
