FIFA appoints normalisation committee to take charge in Egypt

Football’s world governing body Fifa has installed a new committee to run the game in Egypt, after the sudden resignation of the previous board.

President Hani Abou Rida and the other members of the Egypt Football Association (EFA) quit in the immediate aftermath of the country’s exit from this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, which they were hosting.

The new members still have to go through a Fifa background check, but will start work immediately.

The decision was announced late on Tuesday, and fills a vacuum left by the sudden departure of the previous board.

They resigned en masse after the hosts’ shock defeat by South Africa saw them knocked out of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

The new board needs to carry out the day-to-day business of the EFA and make sure elections are held by the end of July next year, at the latest.

Whilst the early exit from the Nations Cup was the catalyst for the old board’s departure, there was already huge pressure on them, after they backtracked on a decision to exclude Amr Warda from the squad for disciplinary reasons.

The board had previously been criticised for aspects of their preparations for the 2018 World Cup and had been embroiled in a number of disputes with star player Mohamed Salah over image rights.

The members of the new board include Mohamed Fadl, who was chief executive of the 2019 Nations Cup organising committee.

They will not be eligible to stand for election at the end of their mandate.