Amr Abou El Kheir replaces Orenga after U-19 World Cup failure

CAIRO –10 July 2017:The board of directors of the Egyptian Basketball Federation, headed by Magdi Abu Farikha, decided on Monday to hire Amr Abou El Kheir, coach of Alexandria’s Al Ittihad men's team, as coach of the national U-19 team, replacing Juan Antonio Orenga, whose contract will end at the end of July.

The decision of the federation came after the failure of the team to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup, which ended Sunday in Cairo. The national team occupied the 12th place out of the 16 teams, according to Super Kora.

The basketball federation had announced earlier that Orenga will be suspended from his position as the coach of the national team and the supervisor of the youth team after the World Cup because of the economic crises of the dollar, as Orenga’s salary is $20,000, which the federation is not able to afford.

Abou El Kheir managed to reach World Cup 2014, which was held in Spain after a 27-year absence of the Egyptian team from the tournament.