Egyptian Football Association

Egyptian Football Association
CAF
Founded 1921
Headquarters Cairo
FIFA affiliation 1923
CAF affiliation 1957
President Hany Abo Rida
Website Official website

The Egyptian Football Association (EFA; Arabic: الإتحاد المصري لكرة القدم‎) is the governing body of football in Egypt. It was founded on 3 December 1921, joined FIFA in 1923, and CAF in 1957.[1][2] It organises the football league, the Egyptian Premier League, the Egypt national football team and the Egypt women's national football team. It is based in Cairo.

Christian exclusion and 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 14 August 2016.
  2. ↑ "تاريخ الإتحاد" [Association History]. efa.com.eg (in Arabic). EFA. 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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