Zamalek will be hoping to put the recent Maqassa controversy that involved their club behind their back when they face Talae El-Geish in the Egyptian league on Wednesday.
After controversially failing to appear against Maqassa on Sunday following president Mortada Mansour's refusal to play the rescheduled fixture, recently-appointed boss Augusto Inacio will be hoping he would finally be able to focus on on-the-field issues now.
Mansour initially announced the team will not head to Cairo's Petrosport Stadium to play Maqassa after claiming he had been not officially notified by the Egyptian FA that the game, which was due to take place on Saturday, was postponed for one day.
The result was a rare footballing scene at the scheduled 07:00 PM kick-off, with Maqassa arriving at the stadium and warming up and the Zamalek bench empty.
The FA-affiliated Competitions' committee, subsequently, declared that Maqassa were awarded a 2-0 walkover win after the game referee had waited for 20 minutes for Zamalek to show up before abandoning the game.
Zamalek president Mansour, however, remains adamant that the Maqassa game will be replayed, while asserting that his team will be committed to face Geish on Wednesday.
"We will face Talae El-Geish. As to the Maqassa game, I'm quite sure the game will be replayed," Mansour told ONTV.
Portuguese manager Inacio will be looking to get the team back to winning ways after marking his debut with a disappointing 2-0 defeat against Enppi, a loss that extended Zamalek's losing streak to four games.
With Zamalek announced 2-0 losers after forfeiting the Maqassa game, the Cairo giants have virtually lost hope of vying for a Champions League-qualifying second spot, let alone compete for the league title.
