International Football
FIFA APPOINTS NORMALISATION COMMITTEE FOR EGYPT FA
The Bureau of the FIFA Council has appointed a five-member normalisation committee for the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) on Tuesday.
The decision comes after the resignation of former EFA President Hany Abou-Rida and the entire
EFA board following Egypt’s disappointing 2019 AFCON campaign.
The normalisation committee will be composed of five members, with former
Zamalek board member Amr Youssef Hassan El-Ganainy appointed as chairman.
Ex-EFA board member Gamal Mohamed Ali will take the role of deputy chairman,
while the 2019 AFCON tournament director Mohamed Fadl is
one of three members alongside Sahar Abdel Hak and Ahmed Abdallah.
According to the FIFA Council, the normalisation committee’s tasks will include
the following:
- To run the daily affairs of EFA;
- To review the EFA Statutes (and other regulations where necessary) to ensure their compliance with the FIFA Statutes and requirements, and to ensure their adoption by the EFA Congress;
- To review the statutes of the EFA members and ensure their alignment with the new EFA Statutes as well as with the FIFA Statutes and requirements, and ensure that said statutes are adopted by the relevant members;
- To organise and conduct elections for all EFA members based on their new statutes;
- As a last step, to act as an electoral committee in order to organise and conduct elections of a new EFA board based on the newly aligned EFA Statutes.
No members of the committee will be allowed to stand for election for any open positions at the EFA as they will also act as an electoral committee.
The specified period of time during which the normalisation committee will perform its functions shall expire no later than 31 July 2020 or as soon as it has fulfilled all of its tasks.
Well-travelled Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte has been named as Guinea’s new coach, less than a month before their next round of World Cup qualifiers.
Duarte, 56, has twice previously coached Burkina Faso and taken charge of Gabon and Togo, while also coaching at clubs in Portugal, France, Tunisia, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Guinea’s football federation gave no contract details when they made the announcement on Monday, but said they would be looking for Duarte to “restructure their national team”.
Guinea trail leaders Algeria by eight points in their World Cup qualifying group with four games remaining, leaving them with only a slim chance of qualification.
They play Somalia away on September 5 and then Algeria at home on September 8 in their next two qualifiers although a stadium ban means Guinea have moved their home game to Casablanca, Morocco.
-Reuters
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Veteran coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.
The 73-year-old announced three years ago that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but told a Dutch television talk show, “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.”
When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Dutch national team, but he has not worked since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“Two years ago, I had a few operations. It was all bad then. But it all worked out in the end. I have check-ups every few months, and that’s going well. I’m getting fitter and fitter,” he said.
Van Gaal, whose career has included stints at Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, reiterated a lack of interest in returning to club management but said becoming the national coach of a top-tier country could tempt him back.
He now serves as a special advisor to Ajax.
-Reuters
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In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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