Egyptian FA responds as video of staff member clashing with security guard goes viral before Australia tie
Egypt’s preparation for their World Cup clash against Australia has been overshadowed by an incident at their hotel.
The Pharaohs take on Australia at Dallas Stadium in one of the World Cup’s last Round of 32 clashes.
History-making Egypt went undefeated in Group G, finishing second behind Belgium, who face USMNT in the Round of 16.
Australia qualified as one of the best third-placed teams. Tony Popovic’s side beat Turkiye 2-0, lost 2-0 to the USA and netted out a 0-0 draw with Paraguay.
As the Egyptians arrived in their hotel on Thursday, tensions boiled over in the lobby, with members of staff involved in a situation with the police.
In now viral footage, a fan was taking a picture with Mahmoud Ahmed Ibrahim Hassan — the former Aston Villa striker known as ‘Trezeguet’.
A police officer came over to where they were taking the photo, and within seconds, tempers boiled over.
The staff and the police officer got into a heated verbal altercation.
Assistant manager Ibrahim Hassan, was furious and had to be restrained by Trezeguet and additional members of staff.
Hassain was heard shouting “F*** you”.
The situation was quickly diffused after that, and the Egyptian Football Association have issued a statement in response to the incident via Voice of Emirates.
“The incident began when an Egyptian child was pushed by a member of security while trying to take a souvenir photo with the national team players,” Ahmed Khairy wrote.
“The statement added that Ibrahim Hassan immediately intervened to protect the child and prevent him from coming to any harm.
“This led to a brief verbal altercation with the security guard, before the situation was quickly resolved without any escalation.”
The federation also confirmed that their preparations for the Socceroos clash are proceeding normally, and they received some welcome news.
Mo Salah status still not clear ahead of Socceroos clash
This is the furthest Egypt have made it through in a World Cup competition since 1934.
Their hopes of progressing further rely on their talisman Mo Salah, who was substituted off in the final Group stage game against Iran.
Hassan was optimistic he could be fit to play but whether he will be named in the starting lineup remains to be seen.
The winner of this match will face either Argentina or Cape Verde on Tuesday.
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