Hector Cuper vetoes starting date of Premier League

CAIRO – 12 May 2017: Egypt national football team's manager Hector Cuper vetoed the decision of starting the 2017-2018 Egyptian Premier League in mid-September and opted for August instead. Cuper chose August specifically to prep the players for the Uganda match which is the stepping stone for the African qualifications for the World Cup.

Cuper had already held a session with Amer Hassan and Hany Ramzy who coach the local national teams. The session aims at streamlining the preparations for the upcoming Egyptian Premier League and ensuring that all coaching efforts are well-coordinated.

Cuper claimed that the original mid-September game schedule will be a disservice to the team players and they should be on the field beforehand. He asserted that it is imperative that non-Ahly and non-Zamalek players would undergo at least three game rounds before they have a face-off with the Ugandan national team on August 24 and September 2.

The most important non-Ahly and non-Zamalek players he cited are goalkeeper Essam el-Hadry (Wady Degla Team), defender Ahmed Diwidar (Semooha Team), midfielder Nour el-Sayed (Itihad el-Sakandary).

The 2016-2017 season is scheduled to be over in the middle of July with Al Ahly SC being in the top rank.