No cross on the pitch: Where are Egypt’s Christian footballers?

Amid the joy and pride surrounding Egypt’s national team and its better-than-expected streak in this year’s World Cup, the occasion is both an opportune and necessary moment to revisit a persistent problem in Egyptian sport: the absence of Christians from its football national team. This phenomenon reflects their broader absence from the clubs that supply players to the national squads, to the point that some have compared Egypt’s roster with Iraq’s national team, which includes three Christian players, despite Iraq’s Christian population being far smaller than Egypt’s.

Why, then, have Christians disappeared from Egyptian Premier League clubs in the 2025–2026 season?

This debate resurfaces whenever major international sporting events take place. Many Christian players who have spoken out agree that the youth selection system is the greatest obstacle, since it allows discrimination against them during club recruitment. Yet despite their accounts and detailed descriptions of religious discrimination, officials have shown no interest in investigating these allegations or addressing the environment that enables them.

A history of discrimination

Former Egypt international and Zamalek player Ahmed Hossam “Mido” previously warned in a television interview that “racism” exists against Christians in Egyptian football. He asked, “Is it conceivable that across the history of Egyptian football there have only been five Coptic players at the top level? Many Coptic players stop playing football at a young age because of the racism they face in football teams. This problem must be confronted. People are not even hiding their racism, based on religion, color, and ethnicity.”

Former Egypt defender Hany Ramzy also said in an interview with broadcaster Abu El-Maaty Zaki in March this year that discrimination exists, particularly among younger age groups. Christian families, he claimed, no longer have hope that their sons will be able to pursue football, adding that the situation today is worse than it was before.

The scarcity of Christian representation prompted the Central Cairo Diocese in 2022 to establish the “Egypt Eyes Club,” intended to serve all citizens without discrimination. The club received approval from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, but soon faced criticism from political and intellectual currents across the spectrum for reinforcing sectarian divisions and injecting religion into the sporting sphere.

At the time, my view was that the primary measure of the experiment’s success or failure should be the club’s actual practices. Did it discriminate against any segment of society? Would it allow Muslims to join without discrimination? Would it operate according to merit and competence while creating opportunities for talented people from vulnerable and marginalized communities? And what would the nature of its relationship with the religious institution be? If the club were to serve Christians alone, it would merely reproduce the same discrimination and exclusion based on religious identity.

In the end, the ministry withdrew its approval, affirming that the regulations and laws governing youth and sports activities prohibit the establishment, licensing, or recognition of any youth or sports institution on a religious basis.

Enough with the flimsy excuses

There is no point in clinging to the past to show that Christians have been valued members of Egypt’s squad by pointing to Hany Ramzy, one of Egypt’s greatest players, not when his last appearance for the national team came in 2003.

Nor can we deny reality by insisting the sporting system is based solely on talent and merit, as though Christians somehow lack the physical attributes needed to compete in sports. This claim is also undermined by the growing number of sports academies founded by Christians in recent years, as well as church competitions that attract broad Christian participation.

Even the absurd, endlessly repeated “argument” without basis that Christian families only care about education does not stand up to scrutiny. Sport is no longer a waste of time or merely a recreational activity. It has become an industry, a rewarding profession, and a pathway to social mobility, often more effective and faster than obtaining a prestigious university degree.

Players prostrating in prayer falls within the realm of personal freedom, but the Football Association’s use of those images sends troubling messages

This absence, evident to any objective observer, raises an important question. If the problem has been recognized for years, and its causes are repeatedly discussed, why has nothing changed? Four years have passed since the “Egypt Eyes Club” controversy. What have state institutions done?

Nothing. On the contrary, officials have reinforced the persistence of this phenomenon by giving Egyptian sport an increasingly religious character—from replacing the nickname “The Pharaohs” with “The Prostrating Team,” to former national team coach Hassan Shehata declaring that he selected players according to the strength of their religious commitment.

I do not understand why the Egyptian Football Association publishes videos and photographs of players praying and regularly reciting the Quran before training sessions and matches. Is anyone questioning their religious devotion? Or is the aim to suggest that victory and strong performances stem from prayer and supplication rather than scientific training methods and sound tactical preparation?

I am not criticizing players for prostrating in gratitude, thanking God, praying, or engaging in worship. Such practices fall within the sphere of personal freedom, just as making the sign of the cross or raising one’s hands in prayer does. Rather, my concern is the Football Association’s repeated use of this imagery in its official videos. It conveys messages about the national team’s identity and what it represents. Those messages suggest that the team has lost part of its identity as a body representing every segment of society. As a result, the presence of a Christian player comes to seem like an exception. In contrast, Christian players are psychologically excluded and constantly made to feel that they do not truly belong within the group.

Breaking the bubble mentality

Where do we begin? And who should take the first step?

Responsibility lies with several actors, foremost among them state institutions, which have taken no action since the Ministry of Youth and Sports rejected the “Egypt Eyes Club” project, despite possessing both the authority to act and the means to make a difference.

The ministry has the power to enforce the Sports Law’s provisions on combating discrimination, establish monitoring and inspection committees for sports clubs and regional associations, and develop a plan to expand talent identification programs. These programs should prioritize seeking out talented young people where they live, rather than waiting for families to bring them to academies and clubs, with all the costs and risks of discrimination that entails. If the ministry truly wants to change the status quo, it must go to schools, churches, and other gathering places.

And if the Ministry of Youth and Sports, like others, continues to pursue a policy of denial and shows no interest in this issue, will it at least follow the president’s directives to appoint “impartial” scouts—free from religious, class, and regional bias—to identify promising young talent? Or, as has so often happened before, will it show great enthusiasm at the outset only for that interest to fade over time, as though nothing had happened?

The Egyptian Football Association is also responsible for regulating and governing the game. Its role begins with guaranteeing equal opportunities and eliminating discriminatory practices, whether deliberate or the result of ignorance and lack of awareness. I do not know whether the association has issued regulations applicable to everyone in the football system—from club officials and administrators to coaches—to achieve that goal. Does it maintain a list of prohibited practices and the penalties for violations? More fundamentally, does it have a mechanism for receiving complaints, investigating them even when those involved do not formally request it, and taking the necessary steps to prevent such incidents from recurring?

Finally, no discussion of solutions can ignore the need for churches to recognize that their role in organizing summer and sporting activities is to provide an additional safe space for playing sports—not an alternative to the opportunities offered by clubs. Nor should churches organize competitions limited to Christians and held exclusively on church grounds as another substitute for the role of official institutions. Instead, they should raise awareness of the importance of not retreating into those spaces, encourage talented young people to join clubs and academies, and urge them to keep trying even if they initially encounter discrimination or rejection.

There are no magic solutions. Changing this painful reality will take years. But there is neither the time nor the luxury of waiting through another generation of lost years.