Cairo - Hisham Chahine
Mamdouh Abbas think the government is trying to destabilise Zamalek
Egyptian Sports Minister El-Amry Farouk has announced his decision to temporarily appoint Galal Ibrahim as chairman of Cairo\'s Zamalek football club in order to supervise the upcoming election of the
club\'s board.
The move comes after current Zamalek chairman Mamdouh Abbas accused Farouk of trying to undermine senior officials at the club after he decided to appoint a stop-gap board of directors to take charge of the club until September\'s elections.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Abbas said the government had shown bias to Zamalek\'s main rivals, al-Ahly.
\"I did not believe in the conspiracy theories, but now it\'s clear that they [the ministry] are trying to destabilise the club.
\"Farouk belongs to Ahly, and he doesn\'t treat the clubs equally because he wants to favour his club,\" the businessman emphasised.
Abbas claimed that reports of a division in the Zamalek board are wide of the mark, and that board members Hazem Imam and Raouf Gaser understand the situation.
The Zamalek chief said that Farouk is in no position to appoint an independent board because the current board of directors enjoy legal immunity.
Temporary chairman Ibrahim is expected to take charge of the club\'s activities from May 28 until the elections in September.