An Egyptian Football Association (EFA) chief has revealed why they decided against hiring two-time Africa Cup of Nations winner Herve Renard as their new head coach.
Egypt parted ways with former manager Rui Victoria last Sunday after the Pharaohs were dumped out of the 2023 AFCON by DR Congo in the round of 16.
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National football icon Hossam Hassan was later confirmed as the new man at the helm, with his brother Ibrahim Hassan also coming on board as team director.
However, Hassan was not the only candidate for the job as the EFA also had their sights on Renard, who had previously won AFCON with Zambia (in 2012) and Ivory Coast (in 2015).
The French tactician was also linked with an interim spell in charge of the Elephants after they parted ways with their coach Jean-Louis Gasset during the group stage of the tournament.
EFA board member Ehab El-Komy has now revealed that Renard was a prominent candidate, but it was decided that his appointment would not happen as he still the manager of the France women's national team.
"Renard requested to have his French assistants lead the national team's training until the conclusion of the Olympic Games," El-Komy explained, per KingFut.
"However, this presented difficulties due to Egypt's challenging World Cup qualifying matches against Burkina Faso and Guinea-Bissau.
"After these developments, the board of the EFA unanimously decided to give the full opportunity to a national coach, and Hossam Hassan was chosen."
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Meanwhile, Egypt's sports minister Ashraf Sobhi has urged fans to get behind the newly appointed Hassan.
"The speed of decision-making is critical in football and we wish success to the technical staff led by Hossam Hassan," Sobhi told CBC.
"Our role as a nation is to monitor every situation related to sports and work as hard as possible to help produce the best output.
"I urge everyone to support Hossam Hassan going forward. He is one of the legends of Egyptian football.
"He played professionally outside Egypt, for Al Ahly and Zamalek, and worked for most of Egypt's popular clubs."
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