A parliamentarian accuses the national team of wasting public money at the World Cup

Parliamentarian Dr. Faridi Al-Bayadi, a member of the House of Representatives and Vice-President of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, sparked a wide debate about the management of Egypt's delegation to the 2026 World Cup, by submitting an urgent briefing request to the Prime Minister and Minister of Youth and Sports. In the first parliamentary move of its kind, Al-Bayadi accused the Ministry of Youth and Sports of "suspicions of wasting public money and unjustified expansion in forming the team's mission," stressing that supporting The national team does not justify opening the door to "travel, allocations in dollars and possible compliments at the expense of public money." The MP revealed a great inflation in the formation of the mission and its administrative names, as the decisions included officials for security coordination, tickets, stadium security, protocol, financial affairs and transfers, wondering about the justifications for this inflation in an internationally organized tournament and most of its procedures are electronic. Al-Bayadi highlighted the questionable financial items It is included in Resolution No. 759 of 2026, which included allocating $100,000 for medical supplies, $30,000 for additional meals, and $3,500 for tips and luggage packaging, stressing that these amounts raise "big question marks about transparency and governance." Al-Bayadi called on the government to provide a clear statement on the basis for selecting the members of the mission, the justification for each job title, and the financial criteria for determining the items of exchange in dollars, calling for a comprehensive review of the policy Formation of overseas sports missions to ensure the protection of public funds. On the other hand, the Egyptian Football Association issued an official statement denying the travel of 15 additional individuals within the official mission, stressing the invalidity of the reports circulating about the presence of additional individuals and administrators, and that the Board of Directors of the Federation is keen to limit the representation to the official mission only.