FIFA rule in favor of Abdul-Wahab…Belal, Shikabala set to sign for Ahli

Defender Mohamed Abdul-Wahab has been cleared for Ahli's African Champions League game against JS Kabylie of Algeria, assistant coach Hossam Al-Badri said on Tuesday.

كتب : Mohamed Sabe

الثلاثاء، 25 يوليه 2006 - 16:55
Defender Mohamed Abdul-Wahab has been cleared for Ahli's African Champions League game against JS Kabylie of Algeria, assistant coach Hossam Al-Badri said on Tuesday.

Abdul-Wahab has been the center of a tug-of –war between Ahli, who had the player on-loan for two years, and his original UAE club Al-Zafra.

Ahli had contacted Al-Zafra regarding a permanent move for the versatile winger but the UAE club refused, despite the player's will to stay with the Egyptian champions.

The case was forwarded to FIFA after Abdul-Wahab used a clause in his contract to join Ahli.

"FIFA contacted the Egyptian FA, who in turn informed us of their ruling," Al-Badri told FilGoal.com on Tuesday.

"FIFA ruled in favor of Abdul-Wahab, stating that the player has the right to terminate his contract with the UAE club, which in turn allows us to sign the player immediately," he added.

The clause in Abdul-Wahab's contract states that the player has the right to terminate the contract in case he is called up for military duty, which has been the case.

However, the Egypt international will have to refund all the money he received while under contract with Al-Zafra.

"Abdul-Wahab is already included in Ahli's African squad and will be added to the local squad as soon as he signs a new contract with the club.

"He will play with Ahli against Kabylie on Saturday," Al-Badri stated.

The 23-year-old had joined Al-Zafra from Aluminum club in 2003 on a four-year contract.

New Signings

Ahli marketing director Adli Al-Qaeyi said that the club is set to sign former team player Ahmed Belal and midfielder Mahmoud Abdul-Razeq from Konyaspor and PAOK respectively.

"We've reached a verbal agreement with PAOK's officials and the player himself," Al-Qaeyi told FilGoal.com.

"The deal should be completed in the upcoming hours," he added.

Al-Qaeyi also revealed Belal will rejoin the Egyptian champions after an unsuccessful spell in Turkey.

"We spoke with the player and agreed the details of the contract," he said. "All what is left is to finalize the deal with Konyaspor officials

"It's important that we re-sign Belal, given the deficiency in the team's front-line and the injury of (Mohamed) Abou-Treika, Flavio and (Mohamed) Barakat," he said.

Al-Qaeyi, however, refused to reveal the financial details of any of the deals, but said that Belal's deal should cause no problem since Konyaspor already owe Ahli 300,000 Euros.