The Egyptian Squash Federation announced that it would not officially participate in the 2024 British Junior Open championship, but allowed players wishing to participate to travel at their own expense.
CNN Arabic quoted Federation President Assem Khalifa as saying that canceling participation in the tournament was due to the foreign exchange shortage crisis.
Khalifa said that the federation “Has been facing a problem for more than a year in obtaining the foreign exchange necessary to bear the expenses of the participation of official delegations in international tournaments outside the country due to the currency shortage crisis.”
“The internal crisis of the dollar shortage affects the federation’s ability to bear the participation of official delegations in foreign tournaments.”
However, Khalifa said that, “The federation allows players the chance to travel to participate at their own expenses, in addition to organizing strong internal tournaments for players to participate.”
The Squash Federation stated that any players wishing to participate in the 2024 British Junior Open championship at their own expense to send their desire to participate in the tournament to the Federation’s email.
The exchange rate of the US dollar in the Central Bank of Egypt has remained at LW 30.84 for purchase and LE 30.93 for sale since the decision to reduce the exchange rate in October 2022, while it rises in the parallel market with any news of a new devaluation in the price of the local currency.
Egypt has been suffering from a foreign exchange shortage crisis since March 2022, due to the Russian-Ukrainian war and global rise in interest rates leading to an increase in the import bill, alongside the exit of indirect foreign investments with a decrease in foreign currency flows – especially remittances from Egyptians abroad.
Egypt is also distinguished by its excellence in squash, and dominates the top 10 positions in the world rankings for men and women.
