Ismaily Club announced its withdrawal from the 2022 Egypt Cup just hours after the draw for the 16th round of the competition was held today Saturday, given that it was directed in favor of certain clubs .
The draw for the 1/8 finals of the Egyptian Cup for the season (2021-2022) was held at the Ismaili Club against Zamalek, which was held at the headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association in the presence of club delegates.
Al-Ismaili said in an official statement: “The Board of Directors of the Ismaili Club, headed by engineer Yahya El-Komi, rejects what happened during the draw for the 16th round of the Egyptian Cup for the 2021-2022 season. in favor of certain clubs.
The Ismaili Council objected to the draw directive when the Club Association and the Football Association Competitions Committee deliberately placed Al Ahly and Zamalek first and second in the Premier League last season while 8 clubs were distributed from third to eighth by lot.
The Club Association and the Competition Committee overruled the Ismaili Club’s objection during the draw under the pretext of postponing the discussion to the post-draw, but quickly withdrew without hearing complaints from the club’s representatives.
The Ismaili Board of Directors believes that this draw was unfair, as some clubs received compliments at the expense of other clubs, which violates the principle of equal opportunity, and, accordingly, the decision was made to withdraw from the Egyptian Cup in protest. against what happened in order to preserve the rights of the ancient club and its fans.
On the other hand, Zamalek officials had reservations about the FA’s decision to draw the 2022 Egyptian Cup starting with the final price round.
And the Egyptian site Kora Plus quoted a representative of the Zamalek club that the draw lacked transparency, as he considered its result strange and illogical.
The official added that it was illogical that the strongest clubs in the tournament would stand in the way of Zamalek.
For his part, Amer Hussain, a member of the Egyptian Football Association and head of the competitions committee, responded: “I don’t draw lots in terms of ease and difficulty, it’s not my specialty.”
Hussain said in a press statement: “Zamalek played against Aswan in the semi-finals and the winner from Al Ahly and the Pyramids will face Petrojet last year with the same procedures and criteria used for the draw this season. “
He added: “Managing the draw by placing Al Ahly and Zamalek on two different paths to the final match is a system that has been in place for many years and also has a marketing aspect to ensure the tournament is as successful as possible. “
And a member of the Egyptian Football Association added: “Last season, the clubs were classified according to their position in the standings, and according to this criterion, the draw was also aimed at eliminating Pyramids and Smouha, who are third and fourth in the standings last. season to the semi-finals.
Amer Hussein concluded: “We did not interfere with the results of the draw. The clubs were classified according to the numbers corresponding to their ranking in the league competitions and the ceremony was held with full transparency in the presence of all club representatives.”
Source: media