Egypt’s Minister of Youth and Sports Ashraf Sobhy has revealed that the judicial inspection of Zamalek SC is nearing completion, with reports set to be submitted on the findings.
In exclusive statements, the Minister said, “We will take legal measures and will apply the law to all processes, regulations and everything.”
Sobhy has so far refused to disclose any financial irregularities that may have been found at Zamalek, and emphasised that when the committee ends its inspection and results are announced, action will be taken.
He pointed out that the inspection applies to all clubs active in Egypt, not just Zamalek, and that the inspections are part of a revamp in working capabilities at the ministry. He added that all clubs nationwide will be subject to the same sorts of inspections every three months.
Sobhy said, “Our goal is to preserve football and sports institutions.”
In the past few hours, numerous press reports have suggested that the Ministry of Youth and Sports’ legal committee had been undertaking preparations to dissolve Zamalek’s current Board of Directors. Working off the back of a legal decision by Sobhy, the legal committee would have then had the remit to appoint a new Board of Directors at the club.
Sobhy intends to postpone the council’s dissolution until after the completion of the CAF Champions League competition, in which Zamalek is competing for the title.
Meanwhile, Hani Zadeh, a member of the Board of Directors at Zamalek, said that Sobhy does not have the mandate to dissolve the White Knights’ Board of Directors, a fact supported by Egypt’s 2017 Sports Law.
In recent press statements, Zadeh said that the decision to dissolve the Zamalek Club’s board is not in the hands of the Minister of Sports. He added that, in the event of violations being found, the current council must be investigated before any decision is taken against it regarding the dissolution.
Zadeh also said that he rejects everything that is being said about the existence of financial irregularities within the club. He stressed that the Ministry of Youth and Sports is monitoring the matter, with the Board of Directors already having explained the reason for the existence of certain sums of money in the club’s treasury.
He said that the club’s Board of Directors had saved money during its current tenure, having received only EGP 6,000 in the treasury at the beginning of its tenure.
“We may resort to the administrative judiciary to prevent the decision to dissolve the Board of Directors in the event that the Ministry of Youth Sports intervenes in this matter,” Zadeh said.
