Zamalek in Turf War: Ahmed Suleiman Strikes Again in the Bentayik Saga

Context: Club, Player, and Media Fire

The player halted training without permission.

Ahmed Suleiman, a member of the Zamalek board, expressed his astonishment at what he called the 'media aura' surrounding the case of Moroccan defender Mahmoud Bentayik and his absence from training.

He stressed in televised remarks that the Moroccan player, like his teammates, is subject to the club's rules, and if found to have committed a fault he will be punished immediately in accordance with the regulations in force.

Suleiman added that there is no justification to reopen this file now, describing it as a 'closed file' for the administration, and expressed surprise at the lack of equal uproar around other players such as Salah Msedq and Abdel Hamid Maali who left the club under similar circumstances.

The remarks did not pass without controversy, sparking a wave of anger among the White Castle's fans on social media, especially with the link between his official stance and his personal relationship with the player, as Bentayik recently married Suleiman's daughter.

Many fans argued that the board's statements lack the required clarity in handling foreign players' issues, given the discrepancy between his comments and what coach Ahmed Abdul-Raouf said about not knowing Bentayik's circumstances or the termination of his contract.

These statements placed the Zamalek administration under further public pressure, with fans calling for a strict separation between family ties and the club's technical and contractual matters.

Observers believe Suleiman's comparison of Bentayik's situation to the cases of Msedq and Maali was intended to ease tensions, but instead it fueled suspicions about how professional files are managed, forcing the board to prove neutrality toward all players without personal considerations.

Punchline: If football were a stand-up show, the transfer window would be the headlining act—dramatic and unreliable.

Punchline 2: And the only offside here is the timing of the headlines; the plot keeps rewriting itself faster than a referee’s whistle.