The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) have chosen to extend the suspension of all football activities in the country for another couple of weeks until the end of May as Egypt continues fighting the spread of coronavirus. The move comes four days after Egypt’s football governing body met with the Egyptian minister of sports and youth Ashraf Sobhi to discuss the resolution of how football will be continued after the COVID-19 outbreak.
At that meeting Sobhi said “The target of today’s meeting is to improve the Football Association’s readiness for the league’s resumptions. We also met to determine the number of stadiums that would host the domestic games if the government decides to resume the football activities anytime.”
“The decision to resume football activities is in the hands of the Egyptian government due to the coronavirus, but it’s now difficult to decide resuming football activities.”
However, a statement from the Egyptian Football Association on Thursday said, “In accordance with the decisions of the Egyptian prime minister, extending a curfew in the country, EFA has decided to extend the suspension of football activities starting from mid of May for another 15 days.”
“The decision applies to all grades of local competitions and all categories” the statement added.
Egypt halted all football activities on the 15th March initially for two weeks, with the view to stopping the spread of the coronavirus. Egyptian football clubs had already halted training, asking players to stay fit at home until further notice.
Earlier, 13 out of 18 Egyptian Premier League clubs had asked the EFA to call off the season with runaway leaders Ahly insisting on the resumption of the league to avoid huge financial losses. Al Ahly lead the league by 16 points ahead of second placed Al Mokawloon with half of the season’s fixtures played. It is not confirmed if they would be awarded the title in the event that the remainder of the season is cancelled.