Cairo derby to go ahead as planned

The Cairo derby between Ahli and Zamalek will be held on Friday as previously planned, the Egyptian FA competition committee said on Saturday.<br>

كتب : Hatem Maher

السبت، 10 أبريل 2010 - 20:57
The Cairo derby between Ahli and Zamalek will be held on Friday as previously planned, the Egyptian FA competition committee said on Saturday.

Several pundits and newspapers called on the competition committee to postpone the game after the ugly scenes that marred Zamalek's 1-1 Egyptian Premier League draw with Police Union on Wednesday.

A free-for-all erupted following the final whistle, resulting in eight-match and three-match bans for Zamalek duo Hazem Emam and Alaa Ali respectively.

Zamalek's football director Ibrahim Hassan was banned from attending the team's matches until the end of the season, so was Police Union assistant coach Mohamed Ibrahim.

The White Knights' officials and fans consistently accuse the EFA of favoring arch-rivals Ahli.

Tensions are growing but the competition committee holds firm, six days before the Cairo derby.

"We have no intention of postponing the game. All the reports which suggested such possibility are totally untrue," the committee's chief Amer Barakat told FilGoal.com.

"Our schedule is very tight, we are doing our best to finish the domestic competitions before the World Cup. We can not afford to postpone a game without cause."

Defending champions Ahli are close to winning a sixth consecutive league title.

They have a six-point advantage over Zamalek, who played a game more, with five matches remaining.