Football, or soccer, is the most popular sport in Egypt, if not the world. Throughout human history, sports have promoted coexistence by bringing people together to compete in goodwill. However, Egyptian Christians are being systematically excluded from the main Egyptian soccer clubs, preventing them from advancing professionally despite their competitive skills. Ultimately, Coptic Christians are being denied the opportunity to play because of their Christian faith. 

 

Egyptian officials deny this systematic discrimination by claiming that the Egyptian national team had a Coptic player, Hany Ramzi, from 1988-2003. However, they refuse to comment on the documented cases of discrimination against young Copts who dream of playing professionally. There have been alleged cases of coaches and players attempting to convert Coptic players. 

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We call on:

 

the Egyptian minister of Youth and Sport, Ashraf Sobhy

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the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino

 

and the president of the Confederation of African Football, Ahmad Ahmad

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to open an investigation and work to end all the sectarian discrimination against Coptic Christians in the Egyptian soccer clubs.

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