Egyptian Football Association

The Egyptian Football Association (Arabic: الإتحاد 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 professional Egyptian Premier League, the semi-professional Egyptian Second Division alongside the lower regional leagues in the third and fourth level of the league system.[2]

Egyptian Football Association
CAF
Founded3 December 1921 (1921-12-03)
HeadquartersCairo
FIFA affiliation1923
CAF affiliation1957
PresidentAmr El Ganainy
Vice-PresidentMohamed Gamal Ali
Websitehttp://www.efa.com.eg/
EFA headquarters in 2016

Controversy

Christians comprise about 10–20% of Egypt's population, the majority of which are Coptic Orthodox Christians.[3] However there is no Christian representation on the national team. Furthermore, there are no Christians throughout the Egyptian premier league's 540 roster spots. This disparity is believed to be due to the bias against accepting young talented Christian players at the clubs' youth level throughout the national league.[4][5] This disparity has resulted in many Christians not feeling represented by the national team.[6]

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 Olympics Committee regarding the similar exclusion of Christians on Egypt's Olympic teams. The exclusions are cited as being systemic persecution against the Coptic Christians. Neither FIFA nor the IOC has taken action or conducted independent research to investigate these complaints.[7][8]

See also

References
  1. "CAF - Members Association - Egyptian Football Association". cafonline.com. CAF. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  2. "تاريخ الإتحاد" [Association History]. efa.com.eg (in Arabic). EFA. Archived from the original on 25 July 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  3. "The Copts and Their Political Implications in Egypt". www.washingtoninstitute.org. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  4. Tadros, Samuel (2016-12-17). "The Actual War on Christians". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  5. "المهن المحرمة على الأقباط". البوابة نيوز. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  6. "Many Egyptian Christians feel left out of World Cup". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  7. "Coptic Solidarity Urges FIFA to Investigate Discrimination Against Coptic Footballers in Egypt - Standard Newswire". www.standardnewswire.com. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  8. "Coptic Solidarity Files Complaints with the IOC and FIFA Regarding Egypt's Religious Discrimination Against Copts in Athletics". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
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