Challenge for Al-Ahly board

Ultras strike al-Ahly club Cairo - Omar Banoby The board of Egypt's most successful club, Al-Ahly, has failed to convince former board member, Khaled Murtagi, to retract his resignation which he announced as a result of their decision to play in the domestic Super Cup against ENPPI Club earlier this month. Many of Al-Ahly’s fans had urged the board to refuse to play in any domestic conditions until justice is brought to the families of the supporters who were killed in Port Said Stadium in February 2012, during a league match between Al-Ahly and Masry. Hundreds of Masry's angry supporters ran into the stands of Al-Ahly fans before the end of the match, leaving 76 Al-Ahly supporters, including some children, dead in the turmoil. Ultras Ahlawy, a hardcore group of Al-Ahly fans, blamed police for plotting the incident in retaliation to the significant role they played in the clashes between protesters and security forces amid the 2011 uprising which ousted President Hosni Mubarak. Al-Ahly's chairman, Hassan Hamdi, is now facing a tough challenge before the annual meeting of the club's members planned for next Thursday and Friday. He and his board are under fire amid criticism directed at the way in which they run the club. The way in which he has dealt with the Port Said disaster is not Hamdi’s only issue, because he also has to explain to the members how he will cover the huge deficit in the club's budget. This has been predominately caused by the suspension of domestic football competitions in Egypt, which has cost Al-Ahly massive sponsor revenues believed to be in the region of 19 million EGP ($3.15 million). Hamdi also received another blow as his vice-chairman, Mahmoud al-Khatib, captain of Al-Ahly in the seventies and early eighties and one of the most popular members of the board, will not be able to attend the meeting due to health problems. Meanwhile, the youngest member of the board, Rania Elwani, a former swimming champion has also confirmed her absence. "I will miss the club members meeting because I have to represent Al-Ahly in another meeting at the same time for the Athletics Association," Rania said to Arabstoday in a phone call. However, the former African record breaking swimmer expected that the meeting "will pass quietly." In addition, some of the club’s members who oppose Hamdi have said that they will expose "financial breaches" made by the board during his tenure, and insisted they will call for the members not to approve the club's annual budget. Ultras Ahlawy already rallied on Sunday before the club’s headquarters in protest over what they perceived as the players' and board's shameful stance towards the victims of the Port Said disaster. As such, Hamdi urged the security authorities to deploy forces around the club headquarters during the meeting, fearing riots.