An Abu Dhabi court in the United Arab Emirates has sentenced the football director of Zamalek SC Abdelwahed al-Sayed and team players Mustafa Shalaby and Nabih Emad “Donja” to one month in prison and a fine of 200,000 dirhams each.
They were accused of assaulting security personnel at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi during their match against Pyramids FC in the semi-finals of the Egyptian Super Cup.
The official spokesperson for the Zamalek SC, Ahmed Salem, revealed the measures that the club’s board will take following the verdict saying.
“The legal team representing Zamalek SC has the right to appeal within 15 days, and we hope that the crisis will be resolved and the trio will be able to rejoin the team as soon as possible,” he explained.
Lawyer Hassan Shoman echoed the sentiment, confirming that the only way for the trio to proceed after being sentenced to one month in prison is to appeal the verdict.
Additionally, he said that the Zamalek FC footballers can request to be released on bail pending the appeal.
The court has the authority to either accept or reject this request. If the court approves, it will likely be under the condition that the Zamalek trio do not leave the UAE.
Shoman pointed out that the appeal must be filed within 15 days. He clarified that the time the trio spent in pre-trial detention will be counted towards their one-month sentence. This means that their sentence will end on November 20th.
Shoman further added that, separate from the current case, the Zamalek trio has the right to appeal to FIFA and file a complaint against the UAE Football Association for referring the case to the criminal and civil courts.
This is due to the fact that the incident occurred during a football match and was merely a case of crowd trouble.
Therefore, they have the right to sue the UAE Football Association, which could result in sanctions such as a suspension of sporting activities or a ban from participating in any sporting events for a year or more.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
