Empty-handed

The Red Devil's withdrawal from the Arab Champions League may mean an empty-handed end to their season. Mohamed El-Sayed writes

---

The Egyptian football audience was shocked last Saturday when Ahli board of directors decided to withdraw the club's football team from the Arab Champions League in its last-eight stage. After a two-hour meeting the board issued a statement explaining the reasons behind this withdrawal.

"Since the Egyptian Football Association decided that the club had to play in the Arab Champions League without its international players, who will be joining the national team in preparation for the African World Cup qualifiers, the club's board thought it wise not to go further in the Arab competition without its key players," the statement read.

The board also said that the decision was taken in response to the Arab Football Federation's refusal to register three of the recently signed red players, resulting in confusion in the team's ranks. Moreover, the statement said, Ahli faced unfair refereeing in the last four matches in the novel new Arab tournament.

The Red Devils were scheduled to meet their arch foes Zamalek yesterday, in the Military Academy Stadium in the second round of the last-eight stage of the Arab Champions League.

The Egyptian team will have to pay a $15,000 fine in compliance with the championship's statute. In addition, the club will be required to pay back all the expenditures the organising committee and the sponsor company paid for the team during their matches outside the country.

On the same day, the red team received a sudden 1-0 defeat at the hands of Al-Hilal of Sudan in Cairo in the last-32 stage of the African Champions League. It was the first defeat the team received since the beginning of the new head coach Manuel Jose's tenure last January.

Apparently influenced by the board's decision to withdraw from the Arab Champions League, Ahli players were disorganised in their play and lacked the "Red Devils' spirit".

Jose refrained from speaking to the press after the match, leaving his assistant Hossam El-Badri to answer the embarrassing questions.

"We should not forget that we play in the African championship without our key player Mohamed Abu Treika, who is considered a team in himself," El-Badri said.

The team's bus was heavily guarded by security forces following the match out of fear of attacks from the fervent fans.

The Red Devils have to win the second leg in Sudan if they want to qualify for the last-16 stage.

In the same tournament, Zamalek of Egypt managed a hard-fought 3-2 home win over the relatively weak Ugandan Army team.

Against all expectations, the white team faced some difficulty in invading the ranks of the Ugandan Army. The Egyptians need to draw in the second leg in Kampala to qualify for the second round of the most prestigious African club competition.

In the newly established African Confederation Cup, Ismaili of Egypt edged Al-Mal'ab of Tunisia 2-1 in the last- 32 round. Playing with a team consisting mainly of under- 20 players, the Dervishes had one of their worst matches in the last period.

"In light of the fact that I am coaching a team of children, I'm satisfied with their performance so far," said Theo Bucker, the German head coach of Ismaili.

Results aside, Ismaili are playing tomorrow on their home turf with Ittihad Jeddah of Saudi Arabia in the second round of the Arab Champions League.