Sherif El-Erian: Murtaza was suspended to preserve future generations

The decision to suspend Mortada Mansour, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zamalek Club for a period of 4 years, from practicing any sporting activity, casts a shadow over the sports community in Egypt, especially after Mansour resorted to the Administrative Court to cancel the Olympic Committee’s decision.

Many questions accompanied the decision of the moratorium, foremost of which are the timing of the decision, the mechanisms for its implementation, the fate of Zamalek during the next phase, and other matters.

Sherif El-Erian, Secretary-General of the Egyptian Olympic Committee, speaks in a private dialogue with “Yallakora”, in which he answers all the questions raised, as well as the chances of holding the Tokyo Olympic Games on time in July 2021, about the sports law and the need to amend it, and the fate of the Football Association elections, in Next dialogue:

First of all, what are the last steps in the file of Mortada Mansour’s Waqf and the latest developments on this issue?

The Olympic Committee has fully taken its measures, after the decision was issued by the investigation committee, we sent to the Ministry of Youth and Sports as the central administrative authority and the Directorate of Youth and Sports in Giza as the competent administrative authority, and all sports federations each implement the decision in their own right, and the Zamalek Club also informed us.

The memorandum signed by the heads of the federations in this regard includes the Zamalek unions that are not a member of it, so what is your interpretation?

This matter is not related to the Zamalek club, and the punishment is personal for Mr. Mortada Mansour, and the federations sign the memorandum to apply what is stated in the Code of Sports Ethics and Ethics in this case, the club is not a party, the sports teams or the players, the punishment is personal for a person who committed mistakes and is punished athletically, even if Anyone who belongs to the sports system who committed mistakes will be punished, Mr. Mortada Mansour is the one who insults and curses people, not the Zamalek club, if the Zamalek club issued a statement insulting someone, we will take action against the club, but the procedure here is against the person.

The question that a large number ask is why this timing and not waiting until after the African Championship?

At any time the penalty will be issued, it will be said why this particular timing, for example, they will say why before the summit or before the super or before the start of the season or the middle of the season and the length of the year you have important events, the timing has nothing to do, as soon as the complaint arrives, the investigation procedures are started, the complainant has the right that we We take measures and as soon as the decision is issued by the investigation committee, approved by the Board of Directors of the Olympic Committee.

Did each union address its international association with this decision?

This decision is an internal matter that was taken in accordance with the Egyptian constitution, sports law, and regulations approved by international federations, and it is the right of every federation to have its international federation informed of it as a matter of knowledge and not awaiting its international opinion, just as a club decides to suspend a player who notifies the federation for knowledge and takes the necessary action.

What is your response to Murtaza Mansour’s resort to the Administrative Court and not to go to the Sports Settlement and Arbitration Center after the decision to suspend it?

His resorting to the regular courts litigated with the Minister of Youth and Sports and put us in a useful sentence, and as soon as the petition and the complaint number reached us, we sent a letter to all the Egyptian federations that he violated the Olympic Charter and the Sports Law by resorting to the regular courts, and every federation does its affairs according to its regulations, for example the Football Association regulation states that who Resorting to ordinary courts is canceled and most of the federations as well, and the constitution in Article 84 stipulates respect for international covenants, and Egypt is a signatory to that in the United Nations, and we all respect international laws, otherwise we play locally here with ourselves, stubbornness will lead to the club itself being subjected to penalties for not implementing decisions, you I am not a club and we hope that will not happen because it is a bullying style.

They say that Murtaza blocked a previous decision to suspend him for two years in 2018 and resorted to the administrative judiciary and canceled the decision, so what is the difference now?

This is a word that is intended to be false, because at that time there was a calm, which is a pledge that he will not return to his transgressions, and for a period that happened and we do not want crises, the difference between the two times is essential, at which time the code of conduct was not issued and entered into force.

How are things going at the administrative level within the Zamalek Club board of directors?

I do not know, and we do not have jurisdiction over the work wheel within the Zamalek club, what concerns me is not to deal with any letter from the Zamalek club that must be signed by Mortada Mansour, as happened with CAF when he sent him a letter bearing his signature and asked to change the stadium for the semi-final match to Cairo Stadium , CAF refused the letter and Zamalek sent another letter bearing the signature of Ahmed Jalal Ibrahim, and the same is true for all sports bodies, and therefore we confirm that Zamalek Club is not a party in this matter.

Is Zamalek required now to elect a replacement club president for Murtada?

It is binding in the Sports Law that in the nearest ordinary general assembly in the event that there are vacancies in any board of directors, an election is called for this vacant place, and the dates for calling for the holding of ordinary general assemblies have been set during the period from the first of July to the end of October of each year.

To what extent has the Sports Settlement and Arbitration Center full independence in its decisions?

The Sports Settlement and Arbitration Center is an independent center over which we do not have any authority regarding its decisions, and the Ministry of Justice is the one that appoints the advisors, and the evidence for its independence is that there are many cases against us and we lost them and we implement the ruling immediately, the settlement center is the one who separates the bodies, the law came with it if the Ministry of Youth and Sports sees Any wrong decision is resorted to the settlement center, and we respect the ruling, whatever it is, and then resort to the International Sports Court, “the cup,” and “the cup” before that overturns the decisions of the settlement center, and the implementation is also carried out because it is the hierarchy of the degrees of sports litigation.

Is the Olympic Committee waiting for the decision of the Minister of Youth and Sports regarding the suspension of Mortada Mansour?

The Olympic Committee has already started implementing the endowment decision and the sports federations as well, and we sent to all parties, each implementing in its terms of reference and limits, and the sports bodies sent letters confirming to us the implementation of the moratorium decision on Murtaza Mansour, and everyone implemented the decision.

Can this case be ended by reconciliation?

Reconciliation between whom ?!, I am not the complainant, reconciliation takes place between the complainant and the person complaining about him, but the Olympic Committee is not a party to this issue.

Mortada says that he is a member of Parliament and cannot be investigated or punished except after Parliament approval because he enjoys parliamentary immunity, your comment?

Parliament is a lifetime that does not interfere in such sports matters, and it is something that is intended to be false, this person claims that no party may investigate with him, we hold you accountable for a mathematical mistake, and I say, for example, now to run for parliament from the age of 30 years, it is possible to be a player in Parliament Hadiya Hosni, a player in the Egyptian badminton team, is a candidate in the parliamentary elections and is still a player, presumably if she gets a mistake, is it not permissible to stop her ?! Unreasonable, of course, all sports procedures governed by sports regulations.

What is the message you want to send from this sentence?

The most important message and we are determined to implement the decision and forcefully because we are afraid of the Egyptian youth of the athlete, in a period of time some films appeared that show the thug as a hero, and everyone warned that they will affect the youth, and indeed there have been a number of criminal incidents as a result of those films, the same thing Young people will begin to abuse the referee in the stadium. There is a reasonable person who says if the referee does your work, do you need a pen ?! The referee says: “Wish you 200 pounds and the player wished for 200 million?!”, “No one is above the law. We want to return to sports ethics so that a generation knows the meaning of morals and belonging to a generation that does not bully anyone and does not mock anyone.”

Murtaza says that the Olympic Committee is a sports body, Zamalek is a sports body, and it is not permissible for one body to punish another body, how do you see that?

Is Al-Ittihad cannot punish a club if it makes a mistake ?! Of course, it is estimated, and if the Egyptian Olympic Committee made a mistake, the International Olympic Committee would punish it. It is natural for the decision to be issued by the Olympic Committee, which has the authority to implement the Olympic Charter and the regulations on the clubs and their officials.

What are the developments of the case of the nullity of the list of Zamalek club?

After the decision of the Settlement and Arbitration Center was issued to cancel the Olympic Committee’s decision to adopt the articles of association, we, as an Olympic Committee, submitted an appeal to the ruling before the Center, which is a normal procedure we do in all cases in which we are adversaries. To memorize degrees of litigation.

What about developments in Zamalek’s complaint against Al-Ahly?

We took the same measures that we take in every complaint, and we referred the complaint to the Bodies, Values ​​and Clubs Committee, which in turn referred it to the Investigation Committee, and the Investigation Committee summoned the complainant, the Zamalek Club, to hear his statements, and for the first time no one attended, and another date was set and also no one from the club attended. We await in the Board of Directors the decision of the investigation committee in this matter.

From your point of view, what is the percentage of your satisfaction with the Sports Law 71 of 2017, and do you think that it needs to be amended?

We do not go with the media “show”, and the Olympic Committee is not an authority to amend, change, or address the parliament. The ministry has the right to do so, and if that happens, they contact us to find out whether any amendments conform to the international and Olympic covenants.
As for me, I say that I am satisfied with the new law with a large percentage exceeding 95%, and it is not normal for the law to be amended from one moment to the next. Law 71 of 2017 has been well studied, the legislative committees reviewed it and Parliament approved it, then the President of the Republic approved it and praised it by all international bodies, so how I change it after 6 months or two years, the law does not need a radical change as some people imagine, and Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, sent a letter of thanks to President El-Sisi that Egypt had now had a law in compliance with international regulations.

What are the chances of holding the Tokyo Games in July 2021?

The percentages are large, and during the last period several meetings took place between the International Olympic Committee with 206 countries, and we all received a message of reassurance from Thomas Bach to hold the session, and he answered a number of questions in this regard, and confirmed that all matters are going in the way of holding the session on time. My belief is that if a second wave of Coronavirus occurs, in what is considered a force majeure, it will not be postponed again, but rather it will be canceled and the Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 Games will be.

Do you think that Egypt is giving a strong message to global sport by hosting a number of major events?

Of course, Egypt will host many important tournaments at the beginning of next year, including the World Handball Championship in January with the participation of 32 teams for the first time, the World Junior Championships and then the Youth Championship for the Modern Five in February, the World Weapon Championship in April, the World Shooting and Rugby Championship and major sporting events in Egypt, we work and do not stand and try to make up for what happened because of Corona.

What is the position of the FIFA elections now and the fate of the Five-Year Committee?

We do not interfere in the affairs of the federations, every federation carries out its affairs with the international federation that belongs to it as long as it does not violate the Egyptian sports law, even the regulations of the federation we only review to make sure that it is in compliance with the constitution, the law and the Olympic Charter without looking at the details.

After October 31, can he call for elections?

Whoever runs the Football Association is currently running a temporary committee, and we all want things to go forward without going back, and to ensure that the elections are not nullified, the decisive factor in holding them or not will be after studying the situation with all parties.

Do you want to add another thing at the end of our dialogue?

I want to emphasize that we preserve the future generations of Egypt’s youth to be a generation together when the wrongdoer sees being punished, the Zamalek club is not a party to the issue at all, for example, if I took a personal punishment while I was the president of the Khamsa Federation, would I take advantage of the union’s employees and make a protest? The Khamasi Federation did not enter the personal penalty that fell on me, and this applies to the position of Zamalek Club.