Yehia Al-Koumi has stepped down as the chairman of Ismaili, less than one month after being appointed. The decision came as the new board struggled to get the essential backing from higher authorities amid the club's severe financial crisis. “We have all stepped down and we informed the governor of Ismailia and the Youth and Sports Ministry with our decision,” former board member Sayed Younes told FilGoal.com. “We faced several difficulties with the inflexible Supreme Council of Sports to get the club out crisis.” It remains to be seen whether manager Hossam Hassan will follow Al-Koumi's board out of the club, given that the latter was the one who hired the new managing staff. Meanwhile, the future of star midfielder and captain Hosni Abd-Rabou is up in the air after the club failed to pay him the signing on fee of his recently-agreed contract. The Egypt international almost ended speculation around his future by signing a new mega deal with Ismaili this month, but the ongoing turmoil brought him back to square one.
