Governing body of association football in Egypt
Egyptian Football Association| CAF |
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| Short name | EFA |
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| Founded | 3 December 1921; 102 years ago (1921-12-03) |
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| Headquarters | Cairo |
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| FIFA affiliation | 1923 |
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| CAF affiliation | 1957 |
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| President | Gamal Allam |
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| Website | www.efa.com.eg |
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The Egyptian Football Association (Arabic: الاتحاد المصري لكرة القدم) is the governing body of football in Egypt. A member of FIFA since 1923 and a founding member of CAF, the EFA has jurisdiction for the Egyptian football league system and is in charge of the men's and women's national teams.[1] The EFA headquarters is located in Gezira, Cairo. The EFA organizes the semi-professional Egyptian Second Division alongside the lower regional leagues in the third and fourth level of the league system.[2]
Controversy
Christians comprise about 5-15% of Egypt's population, the majority of which are Coptic Orthodox Christians.[3] Currently, there is no Christian representation on the national team. But previously there have been notable Christian stars as Hany Ramzy. Also, the coach of Egypt national football team has been usually Christian. In addition to that, almost all of the strongest clubs in Egypt have Christian players and foreign Christian coaches. There are also notable clubs owned by the richest Christian family in Egypt as El Gouna FC and ZED FC. Thus many think that these controversies don't exist because of the fact that the majority of coaches for top clubs are Christians , many clubs are owned by Christians , Christians have memberships in almost all Egyptian clubs, and many foreign Christian players play for the best clubs in Egypt.
Despite that, there have been complaints from the pro Christian group Coptic Solidarity filed to FIFA regarding the purposeful exclusion of Christians from the league, as well as their exclusion from Egypt's national team. A similar complaint was filled by Coptic Solidarity to the International Olympic Committee regarding the similar exclusion of Christians on Egypt's Olympic teams. The exclusions are cited as being systemic. But neither FIFA nor the IOC has taken action to investigate these complaints.[4][5]
See also
References
- ^ "CAF – Members Association – Egyptian Football Association". cafonline.com. CAF. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ^ "تاريخ الإتحاد" [Association History]. efa.com.eg (in Arabic). EFA. Archived from the original on 25 July 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
- ^ "The Copts and Their Political Implications in Egypt". www.washingtoninstitute.org. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
- ^ "Coptic Solidarity Urges FIFA to Investigate Discrimination Against Coptic Footballers in Egypt - Standard Newswire". www.standardnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2018-07-23.
- ^ "Coptic Solidarity Files Complaints with the IOC and FIFA Regarding Egypt's Religious Discrimination Against Copts in Athletics". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2018-07-23.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Egyptian Football Association.
Football in Africa portal • †Associate member of CAF.
