Egyptian footballer apologises to Sisi after suspension for criticism

Footballer Ahmad al-Marghani has appeared on television to publicly apologise to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for comments posted online.

The Wadi Degla midfielder, serving a four-match suspension in the wake of the criticism, presented a handwritten letter of apology in a televised interview on CRT.

The 27-year-old had called Sisi a "failure" in an online post and laid responsibility at his feet for the deaths of 21 army personnel in last week's attack by an armed group on the Sinai peninsula.

"I thank Sisi and the armed forces for the quick response to the terrorist attack, which claimed the lives of our soldiers in Sinai," Marghani said.

I thank the servicemen for their response and the president for his stance Ahmad al-Marghani

"I was only hoping a state of mourning was going to be declared for the Sinai martyrs, such as that with the attorney general. I thank the servicemen for their response and the president for his stance."

Defensive line

Wadi Degla is only benching Marghani for four games for "speaking about politics", said the club in a statement. The club denied reports it had broken its contract with the player.

The club stressed that it took a firm stance against mixing politics with sports - and that its former coach, Hisham Zakaria, had been rebuked in the past for criticising the Muslim Brotherhood in the media.

Mortada Mansour, the notoriously rambunctious chairman of Marghani's former club, Zamalek, phoned into a TV chat show featuring the young star on Friday night.

He went on to launch a scathing attack against Marghani, calling him a "doorman, servant and traitor".

A Nubian group has announced it will take legal action against Mansour for what it believes are "racist remarks" against the dark-skinned Marghani, who is originally from the Upper Egyptian city of Aswan.

Wadi Degla currently lie in eighth place in the Egyptian league table with 50 points, 27 behind leaders Zamalek.