Cairo- The economic crisis has cast its shadow over Egyptian football, as the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) announced, in the middle of the week, the suspension of the registration of 7 clubs due to cases against them related to the accumulation of debts, including late dues and fines.
The decision deepens the wounds of the fans of these clubs, who are suffering from great difficulties in remaining in the local league or trying to return to it again, due to their inability to buy and register new players, whether local or international.
Local websites reported that the clubs are: Misr El-Maqassa Club, Eastern Company, Ismaily, Modern Sport, Aswan, Nogoum El-Mostakbal and Al-Bank Al-Ahly, which prevents them from registering any new player.
On the other hand, Zamalek Club, also known as the White Knight, one of the most popular clubs, and Al-Masry Club of Port Said were removed from the ban list after reaching settlements, resolving pending issues, and paying their overdue dues.
This suspension, which threatens the future of these clubs and affects their activity and popularity, comes at a time when the value of the Egyptian pound has witnessed a significant decline against the dollar, in addition to inflation rates rising to record levels over the past two years.
The relationship between the economic crisis and the reality of football
The decision of the International Federation raises many questions about the relationship between the debt crisis suffered by the Egyptian government and the debt crisis suffered by football clubs, and how these crises combined affect the Egyptian economy in general and Egyptian sports in particular.
The transfer market is one of the most prominent sources that provide football clubs around the world with new players and witnesses huge deals that achieve abundant financial returns for many clubs and guarantee their competition in the list of local, continental and international leagues.
According to the FIFA website, “international transfers achieved a new record of 11,000 transfers (more than $6.4 billion) during the 2024 mid-term transfer window, which represents an increase of 4.9% compared to the same period in 2023.”
The former coach of the Egyptian youth team, Captain Mohamed El-Seifi, described the decision of the International Federation as “a painful blow to these clubs and reflects the deterioration of sports performance in football in general, which was directly affected by the decline in the value of the pound and the increase in contracting costs, and indicates the fading of the luster of some local clubs as a result of the decline in financial and popular support.”
But he pointed out, in his interview with Al Jazeera Net, that there is another dimension to the crisis, represented by the clubs’ poor financial management, losing deals, and the lack of long-term investment plans, noting that the professional system in Egypt remains immature.
He said, “The world is playing in a new league and we are still in last year’s league and the date of the new league has not yet been determined.”
Al-Sayfi supported his statement by the exit of large popular clubs from the calculations of competing for the golden square of Egyptian football, such as the Arab Contractors Club, Ismaily, and others, which directly affects the strength of the Egyptian League and makes the competition random and limited to a smaller number of clubs.
He called for the need for fans to return to stadiums to restore momentum to Egyptian football, and for businessmen to enter the local clubs and invest in them and preserve those names from fading away.
Egypt has been suffering from a stifling economic crisis since February 2022, and allowed the local currency to decline again to about 49 pounds to the dollar instead of about 31 pounds as part of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund last March.
Lack of audiences and deprivation of resources
Sports critic Ahmed Saad attributed the decision issued by FIFA to ban registration in some local clubs to “the consequences of the major economic crisis that the country is going through, which has affected all sectors, including the football sector, and the sharp decline in the value of the Egyptian pound against the dollar in a short period.”
However, the crisis did not arise today, according to Saad’s statements to Al Jazeera Net, but rather has been present for some time after the clubs’ coffers were deprived of major revenues such as tickets to attend matches, advertisements and television broadcasting, and the United Company (affiliated with the state) monopolized all of those rights.
United Media Services Company emerged in 2016 and in a short time became the largest artistic and media production company in Egypt. The company says on its website that it owns more than 40 leading companies in various media fields, including sports rights services and marketing.
Saad added that the signs of the crisis were looming from time to time, noting that the International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPro) issued a statement last year warning players against moving to Egyptian clubs due to complaints of non-payment of salaries and arbitrary behavior such as “confiscation of passports, extortion and forgery.”
The sports critic explained that the economic crisis has affected the big clubs, including Zamalek and Al-Ahly, as the scarcity of the dollar and the devaluation of the pound have led to the failure to sign new foreign players in many other games to provide hard currency, adding that the decline of the pound has created a gap between what foreign players receive and what local players receive, who in turn have demanded an increase in their wages.
Saad believed that the economic crisis affects the performance of Egyptian clubs on the local, continental and international levels, and said that the impact of this is clear on the fans and causes a loss of confidence in the clubs.
He added, “We need to develop an integrated professional system, improve the financial management of clubs, increase investments in sports infrastructure, support clubs financially and administratively, enact laws governing the work of clubs, and combat corruption.”
Some believe that saving Egyptian football requires radical and comprehensive solutions, starting with reforming the economic system and improving the financial management of clubs, and combining efforts between the government, the Egyptian Football Association and the private sector to find sustainable solutions to this crisis, so that Egyptian football can regain its lost status.
