Farouk Gaafar is quoted as making the suggestion on a talk show on Sunday evening after the head of the Egyptian Football Association, Hany Abu Reida, following the Pharaohs’ 1-0 stunning loss to South Africa in the Round of 16.
Reida also invited all members of the EFA board to resign and sacked the coaching team led by Mexican Javier Aguirre.
Gaafar who coached the Pharaohs in the 1990s, but has also coached a local club run by the military said:
“I haven’t seen discipline like in the armed forces.
“This timing needs discipline that will be found only in the army.”
Asked by the presenter whether a military official should preside over the football federation, Gafaar said; “Of course”, adding that the country’s soccer administration needed “an iron fist” to be restructured.
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It’s not just Gaafar who is calling for a military takeover of the national team.
Reportedly, a meme shared on social media shows President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi asking Gen Kamel al-Wazir, who is the transport minister, “Do you know about football coaching?”.
Egypt’s loss to South Africa on Saturday was especially hard because they are hosting the competition.