Sayed Abdel-Hafiz Sets a Bold Course for Al Ahly: A Fight Plan Behind the Boardroom Door

Abdel-Hafiz’s return to Al Ahly’s board: who’s in and what’s at stake

Sayed Abdel-Hafiz, the club's former director of football, formally filed his candidacy for a seat on Al Ahly's board as part of Mahmoud Al-Khatib's list. The elections are set for October 30-31, a date that has fans watching with interest and players counting the days until a fresh direction might actually appear on the horizon.

El-Khatib's slate features a star-studded lineup, with Yassin Mansour as the vice-chair, Khaled Mortagi as treasurer. The “over-age” seats include Tarik Qandil, Sayed Abdel-Hafiz, Mohamed Al-Ghazawy, Mohamed Al-Damaty, Mohamed Al-Gharhi, Ahmed Hossam Awad, and Hazem Hilal. The “under-35” group includes Ibrahim Al-Amri and Roida Hisham.

Abdel-Hafiz's candidacy marks his formal return to Al Ahly after a 26-month hiatus; he was dismissed as director of football in August 2023, succeeded briefly by Khaled Bebo, whose tenure ended amid tensions with coach Marcel Koller.

Later, Mohamed Ramadan led as sporting director for six months, then Mohamed Youssef held the post temporarily before Walid Salahuddin was named football director in September.

Hot files Abdel-Hafiz is expected to tackle: six reform dossiers on the table

Sources say he will be tasked, upon taking office, with overseeing the football department and tackling sensitive issues requiring swift decisions, notably:

1. The foreign coach file

Since the Spanish coach Jose Ribeiro left in August 2023 after only three months, Al Ahly has lived a transitional phase under interim coach Emad Al-Nahas, assisted by Adel Mustafa, Mohamed Naguib, and Amir Abdul-Hamid, with Walid Salahuddin serving as director.

2. A comprehensive restructuring of the sector

Abdel-Hafiz plans a comprehensive restructuring of the football arm so it operates as a unified entity, rather than the current split among the first team, academies, the youth setup, and the Delphi team owned by the club competing in the third division.

3. Internal changes

Changes to the planning committee for football, with a potential reduction in its scope or abolition, and a new committee to include Mahmoud El-Khatib, Yassin Mansour, Walid Salahuddin, and Abdel-Hafiz himself.

4. Appointing a director of contracts

Reinstating an explicit, effective director of contracts after Amr Tawfik's departure, with a preference for a former Ahly star for the role, though the name remains unconfirmed.

5. Emulating the Sundowns model

Bringing in a standalone performance analytics team aligned with the club, scouting players and coaches, and aiding first-team tactical prep would be the aim of adopting a Sundowns-inspired structure.

6. External academies

Expanding Ahly's academy network beyond the UAE and Kuwait to East and West Africa to discover talents for the first team or to market in Europe, potentially creating a new revenue stream for the club.

The footballing side also looks ahead to a league clash, as Al Ahly face Kahraba Ismailia in the tenth round of the Egyptian Premier League. The team sits third with 15 points, while Kahraba Ismailia languishes 18th on eight points after two recent wins under coach Reda Shahat. The Reds’ lineup for the day shows Imam Ashour sidelined for health reasons, with fitness doubts surrounding Ahmed Sayed Zizo, the Slovenian Gradičar, and Taher Mohamed Taher. Still, coach Emad Al-Nahaas will lean on veterans like Mohammed El-Shenawy in goal, Yassin Merai and Yasser Ibrahim in defense, Marwan Atiya and Bin Ramadan in the middle, and attackers such as Achraf Ben Cherki, Mohamed Sharif, and Hussein El Shahat. A Moroccan duel looms between Ben Cherki and former teammate Mohamed Onajem, who shared many arduous hours at their previous clubs.

Punchline 1: If Abdel-Hafiz’s playbook truly makes the boardroom as sharp as a striker’s finish, expect even the coffee to start signing consent forms. Punchline 2: They say revolutions need time; this one might take longer than a transfer window, but at least the committee meetings will have better attendance than the locker room gossip—now that’s what I call progress with a calendar.