Egypt national team coach Rui Vitoria dropped three players from the Pharaohs’ camp “for not following the system” following Thursday’s 6-0 win over Djibouti in a 2026 World Cup qualifier.
Hours before traveling to Liberia to play his second match in the qualifier against Sierra Leone the day after tomorrow, Sunday, Portuguese coach Vitoria showed red eyes to his players Tariq Hamed, Emam Ashour and Hussein El Shahat in an announced disciplinary decision. The Egyptian Federation will introduce discipline in the camp.
🔴 | Vitoria excluded three players from the Egyptian national team and the match with Sierra Leone 🇪🇬
The coach of the Egyptian national football team, Portuguese Rui Vitoria, decided to exclude three players from the national team, which continues preparations for the match with Sierra Leone, namely Tariq Hamed, Imam Ashour and Hussein Al-Shahat. as a result of non-compliance… pic.twitter.com/wBndWFUJid
— EFA.eg (@EFA) November 16, 2023
Hamed (Saudi Damak), Ashour and Al-Shahat (Al-Ahly) participated in part of the training, then complained of pain in their legs and then decided not to do the exercises and enter the locker rooms.
Press reports stated that Vitoria gave a lecture at the players’ hotel in which he stressed that he would not allow any objections to his decisions, stressing that he would not tolerate any negligence or laxity.
Vice-President of the Egyptian Federation Khaled Al-Dirandali commented in televised remarks: “Vitoria has the right to exclude or call up any player and this trio are good players and the coach always has the technical vision and is the decision maker regarding participation or replacement any player.”
While Khaled Bebo, the football director of Al-Ahly club, asked Mohamed Khaled Gharabu, the director of the national team, to submit a report on the exclusion of the duo of Al-Shahat and Ashour, and he decided to hold hearings with the players to find out the reasons for their exclusion from the camp.
After beating Djibouti 6-0, including a four-time winner from Liverpool star Mohamed Salah, Egypt are aiming to secure top spot in Group A with a second successive win over Sierra Leone.
Source: Egyptian Federation + Agencies.