Thursday March 28th, 2024
Download SceneNow app
Copied

Shikabala Denied Travel Out of Egypt

The Egyptian national team pro football player is the latest to have been barred from exiting the country due to uncompleted military conscription.

Staff Writer

Egyptian authorities are really busy these days; with all the the chaos unfolding on the Rafah border and the myriad of security issues within the country, it comes as a surprise that they have once again found the time to ban a famous Egyptian footballer from travelling.

The latest player to be banned from travel is Mahmoud 'Shikabala' Abdel-Razek, who was refused exit from Alexandria's Borg El-Arab Airport yesterday. The 27-year-old, who has joined Portuguese team Sporting Lisbon, was unable to accompany his team, because he failed to obtain a travel permit from the Egyptian Armed Forces, in which he is still under conscription.

This is not the first time a footballer has found himself unable to travel due to military restrictions. Recently, a similar incident occurred with Chelsea star Mohamed Salah, which required intervention from the Egyptian Sports minister.

As for Shikabala, he hopes to be able to sort out all the required paper work in time to fly out today. However nothing ever goes smoothly Egypt, proving yet again that skill means nothing to the military.