Football in Egypt has witnessed a quantum leap during the last few months since the launch of the Egyptian Clubs Association (ECA) in September, which manages the Egyptian Premier League (EPL).
The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has approved the association’s executive members: chairman Ahmed Diab, vice-chairman Emad Meteb along with Khaled Latif, Sherif Salah and Amer Hussein.
“The association is looking forward to playing a key role in restoring Egyptian football its position in the African continent and internationally,” ECA vice-chairman Emad Meteb said.
He added that the association is working on many files simultaneously so that the local contests appear better.
“The TV broadcasting is now better and a new local competition is already in existence. There’s much more to come,” Meteb added.
Like European leagues, the ECA recently organised its first League Cup, marking the country’s third domestic competition after the Egyptian Premier League and the Egypt Cup.
The tournament features all the 18 Egyptian Premier League clubs divided into three groups of six.
Each team plays five games and the top team of each group qualifies to the semi-finals, along with the best second-place team.
The semi-final will then be a one-legged contest with the winners facing off in the final for glory to be played during the international break in June.
The group-stage games of the new-born competition kicked off last Wednesday and lasts until the end of the month, overlapping with the AFCON 2021, which runs from January 9 to February 6.
Teams, therefore, lose the services of their international players, who are on duty with their national teams in the AFCON 2021.
However, ECA member Amer Hussien said that the group stage of the League Cup must be played even if the national team does not go on to further stages in the AFCON.
Group A includes Pyramids FC, Future FC, Eastern Company, al-Masry, Misr el-Maqassa and Ittihad Alexandria.
Group B embraces Ahly, Ismaily, Smouha, Arab Contractors, NBE Club and Gouna.
Group C is made up of Egyptian Premier League holders Zamalek, Pharco FC, Ceramica Cleopatra, Ghazl el-Mahalla, Talae el-Gaish and Enppi.
ECA Chairman Ahmed Diab announced that the winner of the League Cup will be awarded LE1.5 million, while the second place will receive LE1 million pounds, and the team in third place will be given LE500,000.
Furthermore, every team will receive LE100,000 simply for participating in the tournament.
He added that the newly-launched competition aims at increasing club revenues and financial benefits, as the clubs will not bear any financial burdens.
Spectators who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 are expected to attend the games.
Meanwhile, a new board of the EFA was elected a few days ago. The new board is headed by Gamal Allam and comprises prominent names in Egyptian football: Hazem Emam, formerly of Zamalek, and Mohamed Barakat, who played for Ahly.
It is hoped that the new EFA board will work with the ECA to boost local competitions, which would reflect positively on the national team and the game as a whole.
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