The North African country’s football association chief has rubbished reports that they are planning on special measures to protect the Israeli coach.
Egyptian Football Association executive director, Tharwat Sweilam, has denied reports of accepting an offer from Ghana FA to beef up security for Black Stars coach Avram Grant ahead of their 2018 World Cup qualifying clash of November 13.
Reports claimed that some Egyptian fans were arrested by Police earlier this week following plots to attack the Black Stars coach before, during and after the game at Borg El-Arab Stadium in Alexandria.
Israel and Egypt have a long-standing rivalry dated back to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, which culminated in the Yom Kippur War in 1973, making it unsafe for citizens of both countries to make reverse travels.
“Ghana is a normal team just like any other opponents that visit Egypt. The security measures will not see any changes,” Sweilam told DMC Sports TV.
“We don’t care about the nationality of their manager [Avram Grant] or any other thing. We know well the capabilities of our security forces and their ability to guard any national team. We don’t want to dispel our concentration, we know well what Ghana are attempting to do but we don’t want to keep reiterating these statements in the media.
“The most important thing for us is winning against Ghana in order to move closer towardsWorld Cup qualification after the qualifiers,” he added.
The game is expected to attract a record number of 75,000 spectators, who will be allowed entry to the match venue.
Uganda will host Congo at the Namboole Stadium in the other group game on November 12.
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Credit:Goal