Al-Aswany criticises Egypt’s award to football national team

The Egyptian writer and novelist, Alaa Al-Aswaniy, has strongly criticised the Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi’s recent decision to disburse an EGP 1.5 million reward for each player of Egypt’s national football team after they were qualified for the World Cup 2018 in Russia.

If you accept Sisi’s disbursement of EGP 1.5 million in a game, don’t complain about the country’s high prices,” Al-Aswany said in his Twitter account.

Some of the president supporters have launched attacks on Al-Aswany’s comments, stressing that the Egyptian government will receive the money from the International Federation of Football Association (FIFA). Others said that this huge amount of money should’ve been paid to solve some of the Egyptians’ major issues.

In Pictures: Sisi honors Egyptian football team

On Sunday, Al-Sisi decided to spend a EGP 1.5 million reward for each player in the Egyptian national soccer team after they qualified for the World Cup 2018 in Russia.

For the first time in 28 years, the Egyptian team has qualified for the World Cup after defeating the Congo team 2-1.

Egypt has become the 15th team to ensure qualification for the World Cup among others, including Brazil, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Belgium, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Germany, England, Spain, Nigeria, Costa Rica, Poland and Russia.