The Egyptian Football Association called on the media and fans to support the national team and rally around it during the next stage, in light of the controversy surrounding the future of the technical staff led by Hossam Hassan, without announcing an official position on the continuation or departure of the technical director.
The Federation stated in an official statement on Saturday that the interest and stability of the first national team is its top priority, as it represents Egyptian football and the aspirations of its fans.
He added that the events that have arisen recently require a great deal of responsibility, calm, and solidarity, away from any escalation or emotion that might affect the team’s focus and preparation for future challenges, stressing the need to support it and rally around it in a way that achieves the aspirations of the fans.
The statement came amid anticipation of the position of the Federation’s Board of Directors, headed by Hani Abu Rida, regarding the future of Hossam Hassan, after the crises witnessed in the recent period, while the statement did not include any direct reference to the fate of the technical director.
The Egyptian national team is preparing to face Malawi on November 13 and 17, as part of the qualifiers for the 2027 African Cup of Nations finals, amid media reports of a tendency to postpone deciding the future of the technical staff until after the two matches.
The Zamalek team qualified for the round of 16 of the Egypt Cup, with a difficult victory over the Misr Insurance team with a score of 3/2, on Friday, in the round of 32 of the competition.
Guinean Daouda Akmara scored the first goal for Insurance in the 42nd minute, then Mohamed Shehata equalized for Zamalek in stoppage time of the first half, and in the 53rd minute Ahmed Sharif gave Zamalek the lead from a penalty kick, then tied again for Egypt's Insurance Hisham Yehia in the 84th minute, making the score 2/2. But substitute Adam Kayed succeeded in leading Zamalek to advance again with a third goal in the 86th minute.
Zamalek will face its Eastern counterpart, Enppi, in the round of 16 of the Egypt Cup, after the latter qualified earlier by winning with the same result over the Proxy team.
Zamalek is looking for its 30th title in the Egypt Cup, as it has won 29 titles, the last of which was in the 2024/2025 season.
Algerian Olympic boxing champion Iman Khalif, after being absent from the ring since the Paris Olympics, will fight her first professional fight on December 15 in the French capital, where her coach aspires to achieve a world title “very soon.”
The 27-year-old Algerian boxer, who has repeatedly been subjected to campaigns questioning her sexual identity, was forced last April to postpone her first professional fight due to an injury she sustained during training.
Khalif, who holds a professional license from the French Boxing Federation, along with her coach Kamal Abdel Salam and event organizer Yacine Belrabah, announced during a press conference held on Friday in Paris that she will fight on December 15 in the Maison de la Mutualité hall.
The Algerian boxer said: “It has been more than two years in which I have not practiced boxing, and I have missed the ring.” I live for this sport, and I can't wait to get back to it for myself and my fans. The last years (after the 2024 Paris Olympics) and this downtime have been very difficult. "It is time to move to the professional world, and I will do my best."
While she won her Olympic medal in the weight category of less than 66 kg, next month she will compete in the “super welter” category (less than 69.8 kg) against Dominican boxer Clarida Sarabia, who holds Dutch citizenship.
Coach Kamal Abdel Salam praised Sarbia, saying about her: “She is a high-level boxer, and she has never been defeated before; She achieved 4 victories, all by knockout. “So it represents a real challenge, but we have complete confidence in Iman.”
The coach believed that Algerian boxing is capable of winning a world title “very soon,” noting that “this may be achieved within three to five fights, as it has the necessary capabilities for that.”
For his part, Balrabeh said: “We aspire to put Iman at the top of the world, and she can be likened to Muhammad Ali.”
Iman Khalif has not competed in any fight since winning the gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics, and she was also unable to participate in the Eindhoven Championship in June 2025, due to the International Boxing Federation adopting, a week before that, a mandatory chromosomal test.
Despite repeated accusations that she is a transgender athlete, the boxer was born female, but she naturally carries the SRA gene, which is an indicator of masculinity.
In February, she revealed in statements to the newspaper L'Equipe that she had undergone hormonal treatment to lower her testosterone levels before the 2024 Olympics.
