CAIRO: Ismaili have turned down Al-Ahli s hefty bid to sign left-back Sayed Moawad after a meeting between the club s board of directors and Ismailia governor on Wednesday. The Dervishes chairman Yehia Al-Koumi recently announced that Moawad is set to complete a move to rivals Ahli for LE 6 million. His announcement prompted an angry reaction from Ismaili board members, with the majority of the members insisting Moawad is indispensable to Ismaili and refusing to allow him to join the Red Devils. We decided against accepting Ahli s offer, Ismaili vice-president Ibrahim Ashour told FilGoal.com. Ismaili fans will be relieved after the latest news as they were outraged by what they believe Ahli s continued attempts to snatch stars from their team. They flooded Ismailia streets to protest Al-Koumi s declaration on Tuesday and called on the wealthy man to step down from his post. Al-Koumi remained defiant Ismaili won t be able to extend other players contracts nor giving them their dues unless they sell Moawad. The Egypt full-back himself was hopeful of completing a transfer to the Cairo giants. However, Ismailia governor Abdul-Gelil Al-Fakharani promised to find a way to generate revenues for the club before the end of January. Ahli declined to officially comment on Ismaili s stance, but a source in the club, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told FilGoal.com his side was shocked. We had a straightforward approach when we opened talks with Ismaili regarding signing Moawad. I don t know why Ismaili fans become furious over anything related to Ahli, although we never made an unofficial approach to any of their players, he added.
