Egypt's Ministry of Youth and Sports told Ahram Online it plans to issue a regulation to severely restrict the hiring of foreign coaches due to ongoing dollar crisis in the country.
The ministry had already informed all sports federations that it would only sanction the payments made to foreign coaches in Egyptian pounds on a par with the official exchange rate set by Egypt's Central Bank.
Spokesman Mohamed Kassab also told Ahram Online the ministry has an intention to later impose a complete ban on the appointment of foreign managers.
"We have very well-qualified Egyptian coaches in all sports. Foreigners cost a lot and you are aware of the country's economic crisis," Kassab added.
Foreign reserves have dwindled since the 2011 uprising that unseated autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak and the pound is almost worth half as much on the black market as it is in the banks. The official exchange rate is set at EGP 8.78.
"The ministry aims to save around $900,000 annually," Kassab added.
The new regulation is supposed to take effect in November, which will also oblige any federation to get the ministry's approval to employ or extend the contract of a foreign coach.
Mamdouh El-Shishtawi, the executive director of Egypt's Olympic Committee, praised the new decision, saying it would help direct resources to the right places.
"Whatever the amount saved, it will surely help boost other things, like training Egyptian coaches for example. We haven't received any official objections from any federation. There will be no exceptions and should any foreigner object he/she is free to leave," El-Shishtawi said.
Federations support regulation
Ahram Online interviewed many officials from several federations and most of them - including the federations of handball, boxing, tennis, weightlifting, taekwondo, fencing and swimming – said they will not have any problems implementing the new regulation because they already rely on national coaches.
Weightlifting Federation chairman Mahmoud Mahgoub believes Egyptian coaches are usually more successful than foreign counterparts.
"We must support Egyptian coaches by paying them enough and enhancing their skills through regular training," he said.
"I don't say that we should pay them the same amount of money we normally pay to foreigners; even half of that will be ok.
"We relied on foreigners in weightlifting many times but our best results were always accomplished by Egyptian coaches," he added.
Exceptions required
A few problems and concerns have emerged that need to be addressed before the decision takes effect, according to some other federations.
"In September, we had an agreement with three foreign coaches to lead the men's U-19, U-21 and the senior team but after the new regulations, we decided to only appoint the first team's," Egypt's volleyball federation chairman Fouad Abdel-Salam said.
"We will contact the ministry to have an exception as we have a big dream to become one of the top-eight ranked teams in the world," he added.
