Monday Nov 25, 2019. 09:00
Egyptian giants Zamalek have risked the wrath of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) by claiming that they will sue the organisation over its scheduling of the Super Cup.
CAF have announced that Confederation Cup winners Zamalek will take on Champions League title holders Esperance de Tunis in Doha, Qatar on February 14 next year, but this comes against protests from the Egyptian club. Qatar and Egypt have been locked in a diplomatic wrangle for the past couple of years.
“How can we play the game in a country that has sparked problems in all of the Arab world?” Zamalek’s chairman Mortada Mansour said in media remarks.
“I am ready to play the match at the Esperance’s stadium and in front of their fans, but I will not play in Qatar,” he added.
Mansour is a sharp critic of Qatar, which has been boycotted for more than two years by Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain over its support for terrorism.
Zamalek’s board plans to file a legal complaint against CAF with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) over the organisation’s insistence on picking Qatar for the Super Cup, Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Al Youm reported on Sunday.
Mansour said Zamalek will hire a foreign lawyer to file the suit soon at the CAS, providing evidence that Qatar is not a neutral country. He has repeatedly called for changing the venue of the game.
“Zamalek will not play in Qatar whatever the financial, technical and administrative penalties,” Mansour added.
The White Knights risk a major fine and possible exclusion from future CAF club tournaments if they refuse to honour the match in Qatar.
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