Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan has accused the organizers of the ongoing African Cup of Nations of treating his team unfairly, SportPremi reports.
The record AFCON winners will face Nigeria in the bronze medal match later tomorrow following their 1-0 defeat to Senegal in their semifinal affair.
Hossam’s remarks stems from the fact that the Pharaohs have had a shorter period of rest between matches in some instances than their rivals.
They had just three days in between their quarterfinal win over Ivory Coast and the semifinal defeat to Senegal, who had more days to rest having played their quarterfinal fixture earlier.
Egypt have won four of their six matches so far at the 2025 AFCON in Morocco and will be hoping for a fifth win when they tackle the Super Eagles for third place on Saturday.
Hassan offers scathing assessment of 2025 AFCON
Hossam Hassan, who won three gold medals at the African Cup of Nations with Egypt during his playing career, believes his side have been at an unfair advantage so far at the tournament in Morocco.
“Egypt does not need excuses and apologies. Egypt is great and no one will dare to win seven titles like us”, Hassan stated.
“We just needed fairness like [Senegal]. We played the day after the Senegal match, who are playing in the semi on the same field, and I’m surprised by that.
“By what FIFA law is what happened to the Egypt team done? When a team reaches the semis, do you honour it or torture it? It is expected that teams will be given a break fairly among them to see a great semi, but what happened is that the three teams got more rest”, he continued.
“I told the players to ignore [the chants from the stands] and focus. I don’t want to talk about it.
“We are Arabs of Africa and Egypt is great, the mother of the Arabs and the mother of Africa in terms of history and titles, and everyone is jealous”, the 59-year-old concluded.
The Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca is the venue for the bronze medal match between Egypt and Nigeria on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Morocco and Senegal will compete for glory in the final match of the 2025 African Cup of Nations on Sunday.
