Egypt’s Ministry of Youth and Sports has opened up the files kept by clubs and sports bodies and organisations across the country, that have until now been kept firmly hidden out of public view.
The move has been a painful blow for the Egyptian Football Association (EFA), headed by Amr El-Ganainy, as the association has lost some of its financial holdings to the Public Prosecutor and the Public Funds Prosecution.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports set up a series of inspection committees, to prove and follow-up on the financial and administrative affairs of Egypt’s sports and youth bodies. The work carried out by the committees includes rooting out financial and administrative violations.
As part of the ministry’s move to audit the work carried out by the youth and sports bodies present in Egypt, a series of adequate reports are prepared as public evidence of their activities. In the event of any violations, the body or entity is referred to the Public Prosecution who will conduct investigations into the matter.
As a result of its inspection, the committee found quite a few financial and administrative irregularities and has since published a report on its findings.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports has referred evidence of financial and administrative violations carried out by the El Sharkia Sports Club to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, who will now investigate the club’s activities.
Some of these violations relate to decisions issued by the club’s president without the approval of the club’s board of directors. The decisions, which were also not approved by the engineering authority at the Directorate of Youth and Sports, have now led to a series of grave financial violations being carried out. The report noted that the interests and funds of the club have been harmed as a result.
The report issued by the inspection committee regarding violations at the Damietta Sports Club during fiscal year (FY) 2018/19 was also referred to the Attorney General. The report highlighted that the club’s board of directors have also been involved with financial and administrative violations.
It is expected that the inspection committee will now probe into Egypt’s various sports federations and the Egyptian Olympic Committee in the coming days.
With this potential move in the offing, Sports Minister Ashraf Sobhy has leant his support to Attorney General Hamada El-Sawy’s move to expand the membership of the inspection and investigation committees.
The minister has also held discussions with Hisham Badawi, Head of the Central Auditing Organization, to intensify the nationwide inspections and follow-up.
Sobhy affirmed his ministry’s keenness to develop Egypt’s sports system, whilst working to improve governance and realising its importance in optimal organisation and management. The ministry’s work would also cover the promotion of transparency and integrity, and combating corruption in all its forms.
