Editorial photo #66578 Politics

Zamalek club elections in Egypt

Elections for the management of Egypt’s two leading football clubs, Ahly and Zamalek, took place on Friday amid controversy surrounding government interference in football. The elections took place in an “extremely difficult” context, wrote the privately owned newspaper Al-Shorouk, suggesting that this would prove a heavy burden for the winners to shoulder. The competition for the leadership of Zamalek Club was the most heated in the 100-year-old club’s history, according to Al-Shorouk, due to the “convergence of the fortunes of the three candidates, Murtada Mansour, Kemal Darwish and Raouf Gasser, alongside the fourth candidate Ashraf Sukkary.” Intense debate between the candidates and their campaigns continued until the 11th hour both inside and outside the club as they fought to garner support from members of the general assembly. (Photo by Nameer Galal/NurPhoto)