Cabinet and Sports Minister face off

Unconfirmed reports of the resignation of Sports Minister Taher Abu Zeid surfaced after Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi suspended Abu Zeid’s decision to disband the board of the Ahly Club on Saturday.

Privately-owned al-Masry al-Youm reported on Saturday night that Abu Zeid informed them that he has already made a final decision to leave the ministry. However, Hany Salah, the cabinet spokesperson, told the paper that the cabinet has not yet received a formal resignation.

The crisis began when Abu Zeid issued a decision on Saturday to disband the board of the Ahly Club and referred the board to the prosecution to investigate financial penalties determined by the ministry’s legal affairs. Abu Zeid announced an interim board led by Adel Heikal to replace the current one led by Hassan Hamdy. Hours later, Beblawi suspended the minister’s decision, saying that it will be put on hold until its legal legitimacy is investigated.

During a phone interview on a television show on Saturday night, Salah stated that Beblawi’s decision was not meant to undermine the minister, and added that it was deemed necessary in light of the current circumstances, in order to guarantee the success of the roadmap. He also stated that the cabinet is now working with the Sports Ministry and the Ahly Club board in order to contain the crisis. The term of the contested Ahly Club board officially ended in August; however, the ministry allowed the board to continue as a caretaker board until a new one is elected.

A feud between Abu Zeid and the board of major clubs started in September, when the Ministry passed a bylaw that prohibits board members from running for more than two terms, setting eight years as the maximum time that any board member can serve. This angered board members in both the Zamalek and Ahly clubs who had already served their eight years and were planning to run for another term. The new bylaw also set a system of financial inspection on the boards of clubs.

Abu Zeid issued a similar decision in October to disband the board of the Zamalek Club, which was executed without being contested by the cabinet. The feud escalated in October when the board of the Ahly Club challenged the ministry’s bylaw and issued its own internal one, which allows the board members to run for more than two terms. Abu Zeid then threatened to refer the file of the board’s alleged financial violations to the ministry’s legal affairs.

On Saturday, the ministry announced that its decision contains 16 financial violations by the board, which will now be referred to the prosecution. Hamdy has garnered a lot of influence within the government as head of the state-owned Al-Ahram advertising agency. Speculations of financial corruption have also surrounded Hamdy, as a result of him holding his Al-Ahram post while simultaneously maintaining a position as head of the Ahly Club. Mostafa Younis, one of the board members appointed by the minister as part of the now-suspended decision, said in a television phone interview on Saturday night that the cabinet’s decision is proof that Hamdy has unsurpassed power, arguing that he is able to control the state with his money and connections.