Arsenal midfielder Mo Elneny is claimed to have rejected the Egypt manager’s request for him to warm-up at half-time, before supposedly informing his boss that he wouldn’t be playing.
The 28 year-old is claimed to have been frustrated with his manager’s decision not to give him a role in the starting line-up, which prompted his decision to refuse to play.
Elneny hasn’t been playing heavily for Arsenal of late despite impressing earlier in the campaign, but remains as one of the biggest names of the Egypt squad.
The issue appears to be with the manager however, with Elneny supposedly asking not to be called up after the previous internationals after he was overlooked, and was supposedly promised to start, a promise that clearly wasn’t kept.
“After the first training camp under Hossam El-Badry, Elneny asked not to be called up again, because he wasn’t starting,” Ahmed Abdelbaset told OnTime Sport TV (via All Africa).
“He was constantly on the bench during the previous qualifying matches, and even though he was promised to start he was still benched against Kenya.
“El-Badry asked Elneny to warm-up during the half-time because he was planning on subbing him on but he refused and told him he wasn’t going to play,” he added.
With Egypt set to line-up against fellow already-qualified Comoros this evening, it could be interesting to see if Elneny is part of the squad, or even the starting line-up after the previous incident, but at this point I wouldn’t be expecting Mo to feature having fallen out with the manager.
Should Elneny expect there to be repercussions for refusing to play on Thursday?
Patrick