Raja Allah Al-Sulami, Secretary-General of the Arab Football Federation, affirmed the Federation Council’s aspiration to hold more Arab championships and competitions during the next stage, in a way that will enhance the presence of Arab football and raise its levels, in light of the continuous follow-up of Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, President of the Arab Football Federation, and members of the Federation Council, and their keenness for the Federation’s championships to be a tributary to the development of Arab football.
Al-Salami praised the success of the fifth edition of the Arab Cup Beach Soccer Championship, which concluded on Monday in the Egyptian Governorate of Port Said, extending his thanks to the Egyptian Football Association, headed by Hani Abu Raida, for the good hosting and efforts made to make the tournament a success, appreciating the efforts of the organizing committees, workers, and everyone who contributed to organizing the competitions.
The Secretary-General of the Arab Federation congratulated the Moroccan team for winning the title, wishing the Mauritanian team success in its upcoming achievements, and praising the technical level presented by the two teams in the final match, and the competitive spirit that reflected the development of Arab beach football.
Egyptian coach Ali Maher received great attention after announcing his assumption of the position of coach of the Egyptian national team, succeeding Hossam Hassan. Ali Maher’s name topped the trend on “X” and “Google” in Egypt, on Monday, with “social” comments recalling his football career, and even his experience in cinema.
The Egyptian Football Association issued a statement in which it affirmed its keenness on the stability of the first football team as a top priority that cannot be tolerated, and that after studying all the circumstances and events witnessed during the past period, and the resulting repercussions and negative impact on the positive image and stability of our national team, it decided to thank Captain Hossam Hassan and his technical and administrative staff in accordance with the terms of the contract, and to assign Captain Ali Maher to assume the duties of the team’s technical director.
The recent period witnessed events and statements from Hossam Hassan that sparked controversy, in addition to the media covering facts related to private life. A few days ago, the Supreme Council for Media Regulation in Egypt issued a decision preventing Captain Hossam Hassan from appearing on all media outlets.
The Egyptian Football Association published a notice about the career of Ali Maher (52 years old). He had announced his retirement in 2004 after suffering a severe injury. He had played as a striker for several clubs, including “Al-Tersana”, “Al-Ahly”, “Enppi” and “Al-Ansar Al-Saudi”. He devoted himself to coaching, and took on the task of coaching the “Future Stars”, “Al-Tersana”, “Al-Assiouty”, “Smouha” and “Enppi” teams. “Al-Masry”, “Future”, and “Ceramica Cleopatra”.
Egyptian sports critic, Osama Saqr, believes that “the selection of Ali Maher as technical director of the Egyptian national team is the talk of the hour and is receiving the greatest attention currently in Egyptian sports circles, especially with (social media) entering the line of criticism and comments on the management of the Egyptian national team during the last period, especially with Hossam Hassan’s personal life entering the line of controversy.”
He added to Asharq Al-Awsat: “The controversial feature that made Ali Maher’s appointment the talk of the hour is the volume of rumours, statements and statements that were issued before announcing his appointment and thanking Hossam Hassan. All this without the Football Association holding a press conference in which it explained the reason for Hossam’s dismissal and Ali Maher’s appointment with complete transparency instead of leaving matters to satellite channel speculation.” This is something Saqr considers an indicator that “causes concern during the coming period regarding the way news of the national team is dealt with if it does not achieve the desired results.”
With Ali Maher's name circulating on social media, he gained attention and social media users recounted the player's career, in addition to references to his acting in some Egyptian films. His name topped the trend, with many pointing to Maher’s efforts in training several teams.
Sports critic and social media expert Mohamed Al-Barami said, “Ali Maher is a very good coach who has proven this over the years in the Egyptian League.” Al-Barami believes that “Ali Maher is among the best local coaches at the present time and the best local coach in the Egyptian League. If the team is looking for an Egyptian coach, it is natural for it to be Ali Maher.”
He added to Asharq Al-Awsat: “Ali Maher plays offensive football and developed all the teams he coached, the latest of which is (Ceramic Cleopatra), which became a competitor. This is other than being an international player and a player for Al-Ahly. Certainly there is an aspect of popular support, but what was noticeable - and perhaps the reason for the interest - was the list of choices that was announced with the return of Nasser Maher, Al-Wansh, and some of the players who were outside the team because of Hossam Hassan’s choices.”
Ali Maher announced the list of the team that will play in its next matches in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers in preparation for facing Malawi, in the third and fourth rounds of the qualifiers for the 2027 African Cup of Nations.
The goalkeeper choices were: Mohamed El-Shenawy, Mahdi Soliman, Mustafa Schubert, and Mohamed Alaa. The defense line: Mahmoud Al-Wansh, Hossam Abdel Majeed, Rami Rabia, Mohamed Abdel Moneim, Mahmoud Marei, Mohamed Hani, Karim Hafez, Ahmed Fattouh, and Tariq Alaa.
The midfield: Marwan Attia, Muhannad Lashin, Mahmoud Saber, Mohamed Shehata, Nasser Maher, Ibrahim Adel, Mahmoud Hassan Trezeguet, Ahmed Sayed Zizo, and Haitham Hassan.
The attacking line: Mohamed Salah, Omar Marmoush, Hamza Abdel Karim, and Mahmoud Mamdouh.
Al-Barami described the task of coaching the national team as “it will not be an easy task, especially since it comes after a coach who achieved the best participation for Egypt in the World Cup and was going well with the national team despite the criticism, and this is a point in which we did not test Maher.” He did not appear with a public club, and we do not know how he will deal with pressure and public attack.”
The Moroccan national team won the Arab Beach Soccer Cup for the first time in its history, after defeating its Mauritanian counterpart, 6-5, on Monday, in the final match of the fifth edition of the tournament, which was held in the Egyptian governorate of Port Said, during the period from 5 to 9 November.
The Secretary-General of the Arab Football Federation, Raja Allah Al-Sulami, with the participation of Mohamed El-Sherbiny, a member of the Board of Directors of the Egyptian Football Association, handed over the championship cup to the Moroccan national team, which joined the record of champions alongside the national teams of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, each of which had previously won the title twice.
The Moroccan team topped the second group with 7 points, after defeating Lebanon 7-4 and Libya 7-1, and defeating Oman on penalty kicks after a 5-5 draw in regular and extra time, before the Egyptian team surpassed the home team with a score of 3-2 in the semi-finals.
On the other hand, the Mauritanian team reached the final match after topping the first group with 6 points, after defeating Iraq 8-1 and Egypt 4-1, while losing to Saudi Arabia 2-3, before defeating Lebanon 5-3 in the semi-finals.
In terms of individual awards, Moroccan Amhamed Manar won the best goalkeeper award in the tournament, while Mauritanian Sheikh Belkheir won the best player award, and Lebanese Mohamed Al-Saleh was crowned top scorer with 8 goals.
The fifth edition witnessed the participation of 8 teams: Morocco, Mauritania, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iraq and Libya, while the total goals scored reached 117 goals during 15 matches.
