The Ministry of Youth and Sports has decided to refer the incident of wrestler Muhammad Mustafa Ali Al-Shami's escape during the transit of the Egyptian wrestling delegation in Rome to the Public Prosecution to take whatever legal measures it deems appropriate.
The incident of wrestler Ziad Haggag's escape during the World Youth Wrestling Championship in Slovakia has also been referred to the Public Prosecution.
According to a ministry statement: "These measures come in light of the ministry's commitment to dealing decisively with any incidents that affect the regularity of Egyptian delegations during their external participation, and to determining legal and administrative responsibilities, while emphasizing the non-prejudgment of investigation results or the issuance of prior judgments against any party."
Read | Olympic Committee suspends head of wrestling delegation at the Mediterranean Games after Al-Shami's escape
The Egyptian Olympic Committee had decided to suspend Ibrahim Adel Ibrahim Mustafa El-Attar, head of the wrestling delegation, and refer him to the Ethics Committee, after preliminary investigations revealed negligence, carelessness, and dereliction of duty in monitoring one of the delegation members.
The details of Al-Shami's incident date back to the wrestling delegation leaving Taranto Airport for Rome with all its members, before stopping for a transit to complete the return journey to Cairo.
During the transit, the head of the delegation was required to keep the delegation's passports in his possession, which he failed to do, before the player's coach noticed his absence and attempted to catch up with him, but the attempt was unsuccessful, and the coach was forced to miss the flight, while Al-Shami managed to leave the delegation's vicinity.
As for the incident involving Ziad Haggag, the Ministry of Youth and Sports had previously directed the Egyptian Wrestling Federation to take legal measures, investigate the incident, and prepare and submit a detailed report to the ministry regarding the circumstances of the player's escape during his participation in the World Youth Championship in Slovakia, before the incident was referred to the Public Prosecution.
At the same time, the ministry emphasized that these incidents do not detract from the great sporting achievement achieved by Egyptian wrestling at the Mediterranean Games, after successfully winning seven medals, consisting of two golds for Samer Hamza and Muhammad Hassan, two silvers for Muhammad Farag and Abdel Rahman Haitham, and three bronzes for Mouda Badawi, Mustafa Hussein, and Shahab Al-Din Abdel Raouf, while Al-Shami was eliminated in the preliminary rounds.