Ibrahim Hassan, director of the Egyptian national team, revealed the behind-the-scenes details of Haitham Hassan's, the Real Oviedo player, joining the Pharaohs for the last World Cup tournament.
Ibrahim Hassan spoke in an interview with the Emirati newspaper Al-Bayan, saying: "We followed Haitham Hassan for more than a year and we had a desire to include him in the Africa Cup of Nations tournament, but a problem with some procedures and papers delayed his joining".
He added: "We follow many players for a long time, but we want to include the player who will be an addition to the national team, and the advantage with Haitham is that his level is developing and he forms distinctive partnerships with Mohamed Salah and Zizo, and I see that his level with the national team is much better than what he offers with his club Real Oviedo".
He continued: "All players sit with Mohamed Salah and listen to him constantly, and if we encounter a player who causes a problem we exclude him, but frankly we have not seen anything negative from this group".
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He touched on the discussion with the league association, saying: "We had a goal since taking responsibility, which is to regularize the league competition like the European and Arab leagues because the Al Ahly and Zamalek players were not getting enough rest".
He continued: "We cooperated with the clubs association to put in place a new system for the league, which contributed to ending the season in May so that the players get appropriate rest and a suitable preparation period".
He added: "Last season the league competition continued until the final round, which confirms the success of the current system".
He pointed out: "We have a plan to return the league to 18 clubs and gradually reduce the number of foreigners so that the Egyptian player gets a greater opportunity to appear, because we have started to suffer a shortage in some positions, such as the right and left backs and the striker".
He continued: "We presented a vision to the football association to gradually reduce the number of foreign players to enhance the quality of the local player".
