CAIRO: The Egyptian Football Association’s (EFA) board decided Sunday to fine Ahly player, Mohamed "Geddo" Nagy, LE 2.2 million for signing with two clubs at the same time.
The decision did not include a suspension of the former Al-Ittihad player, who rose to stardom as the top scorer in last year’s African Cup.
Geddo will have to pay Zamalek the LE 1.2 million he received from the club when he signed with the club before the 2010 African Cup. He will also pay LE 1 million to the EFA, equivalent to half the salary he would have received in his first season with Zamalek.
Geddo’s agent, Nabil Abu Zeid, has also been suspended for one year, meaning that he will not be allowed to sign any players with the EFA for that duration of time.
A huge dispute erupted over the player between Zamalek and Alexandrian club Al-Ittihad because Geddo had signed with Zamalek before his stint in the African Cup in January, six months before the end of his contract with Al-Ittihad.
However, the player denied his Zamalek commitment and continued the season with Al-Ittihad, which reportedly renewed Geddo’s contract.
During this summer’s transfer window, Geddo signed with Al-Ahly. This led Zamalek’s officials to demand that the player be banned for signing with two clubs simultaneously and that he be fined LE 30 million, according to the penalty clause in his contract with Zamalek.
Investigations by an EFA committee confirmed the validity of Geddo’s contract with Zamalek.
"This [LE 2.2] is the highest possible penalty in the EFA’s regulations for signing with two clubs simultaneously," said Hani Abu Reda, an EFA board member.
However, the decision was received with discontent by officials in both Al-Ahly and Zamalek, who both said that "it didn’t serve anyone."
By limiting the penalty to a fine without a suspension, the decision was expected to be a relief for Al-Ahly, yet the club’s officials stressed their dissatisfaction.
"The decision was taken based on impressions rather than facts; they tried to please all sides but they failed to please anyone," said Adly Al Qee’y, head of the marketing committee at Al-Ahly.
With the authenticity of the contract in question, Al-Ahly is planning to take the case to civil courts to check the validity of Geddo’s contracts with both Zamalek and Al-Ahly.
Zamalek officials on the other hand, were "unsurprised" by the decision. They plan to take Geddo’s case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
"If they found that our contract with Geddo [was] valid then why didn’t they apply the penalty clause and make him pay LE 30 million?" said Nasr Azzam, Zamalek’s legal consultant.
"The decision is comic and we won’t accept it," said Sabry Serag, a Zamalek board member.
"The player must be suspended so [that] no other player repeats the same mistake of signing with two clubs simultaneously," he added.
The Zamalek Board is set to meet this week to issue a final decision on Geddo’s case. They will debate whether to escalate the issue before an international body or to accept the EFA’s decision.
Geddo took part in Al-Ahly’s victory over Ismaili in the African Champions League on Sunday despite a local suspension order in place until he pays the fine.
Experts say that FIFA and CAS are expected to decline to arbitrate Geddo’s case because they would consider it an "internal affair."
