The Egyptian Football Association (Arabic: الاتحاد المصري لكرة القدم) is the governing body of football in Egypt. A member of FIFA since 1923 and a founding member of CAF, the EFA has jurisdiction for the Egyptian football league system and is in charge of the men's and women's national teams.[1] The EFA headquarters is located in Gezira, Cairo. The EFA organizes the semi-professional Egyptian Second Division alongside the lower regional leagues in the third and fourth level of the league system.[2]
Christians comprise about 5-15% of Egypt's population, the majority of whom are Coptic Orthodox Christians.[3] Despite their numbers, there are currently no Coptic members of the national football team, although there have been notable Christian members in the past, such as as Hany Ramzy. Additionally, some notable clubs are owned by the Sawiris family, a prominent Christian family in Egypt, including El Gouna FC and ZED FC.
Over the years, however, there have been numerous reports and complaints (formal and informal) from Coptic advocacy groups and community members, including Coptic Solidarity as filed to FIFA, regarding the purposeful exclusion of Christians from the league, as well as their exclusion from Egypt's national team. A similar complaint was filled by Coptic Solidarity to the International Olympic Committee concerning the exclusion of Christians from Egypt's Olympic teams. The exclusions are described as systematic, although neither FIFA nor the IOC have taken action to investigate these complaints.[4][5]
