CAIRO — Amid the political tensions that have prevailed in Egypt following June 30, voices have risen from the country’s sports circles demanding that politics be kept away from the industry and stadiums are spared Egypt’s political conflict.
Egypt’s Football Association adopted strict penalties on Dec. 12, to be imposed during the upcoming sports season beginning later this month. These penalties stipulate that all players who raise political, religious, ethnic or gender-based slogans are to be barred from playing for five matches and fined 15,000 Egyptian pounds (about $2,175). These penalties have, for the first time in the history of Egyptian soccer, been included in the regulatory framework of Egyptian clubs and matches played by the Egyptian national team.
