Egypt and the UAE have been having strategic political and economic ties over the years, especially after Sisi took office almost a decade ago. [Getty]
The UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan pardoned three convicted members of El-Zamalek, Egypt’s second most prominent football club, hours after an Emirati court handed each of them down a one-month jail sentence and hefty fine over assaulting public security personnel earlier this month.
Following the verdict on Tuesday, the official spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Youths and Sports told Egyptian media outlets that the crisis of the Zamalek team members was about to end following negotiations between officials in Egypt and the UAE.
On 20 October, prominent Egyptian footballers Mostafa Shalaby and Nabih Emad (nicknamed by his fans as “Donga”) and the team’s director Abdel-Wahed El-Sayed got into a physical fight with a security guard at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi during a semi-final match with Egypt’s Pyramids FC of the Egyptian Super Cup.
The three men were remanded in custody pending trial, prompting Zamalek fans in Egypt to take to social media platforms and call for their release amid conflicting reports on the incident in question.
The court in Abu Dhabi confronted Shalaby, Donga and Sayed with the charges of “committing acts that would disturb public order and incite riots before of the fans” during the match, which ended with Zamalek’s 5-4 win over its opponent in a penalty shoot-out.
The court said in its statement that security cameras proved they did not comply with the regulatory controls and jeopardised the safety of public employees as they performed their duties. In addition to the prison sentence, the three men were ordered to pay 200,000 AED each (about $55,000).
A video had earlier gone viral showing unclear footage believed to be of the three clashing with a security guard behind the football field. Conflicting reports have ever since marred the reasons that incited the flight.
Last week, Zamalek lost the Super Cup championship to its long-time rival, Ahly, at the same stadium, also after a penalty shoot-out. Â Â
Meanwhile, the Zamalek Club board expressed gratitude in an official statement towards what it described as “the generous gesture” of the UAE led by bin Zayed, reflecting the strong, deep Egyptian-Emirati ties.
Egypt and the UAE have been having strategic political and economic ties over the years, especially after Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi took office almost a decade ago.
The UAE has stood as the top international investor in Egypt. In February this year, Egypt and the UAE struck a landmark investment partnership to develop the Ras al-Hekma (also al-Hikma) overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, northwest of the capital, Cairo.
The deal injects $35 billion of foreign direct investment into the struggling Egyptian economy, intended to bolster economic growth and address a hard currency crisis.
