A parliamentarian accuses the Egyptian national team’s World Cup delegation of “wasting public money.”

Egyptian media reported that a member of the House of Representatives and Vice-President of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, Dr. Freddy Al-Bayadi, submitted an urgent briefing request addressed to the Prime Minister and Minister of Youth and Sports, regarding what he described as “suspicions of wasting public money and an unjustified expansion in the composition of the Egyptian national team delegation participating in the 2026 World Cup finals,” against the backdrop of Ministry Decisions No. 759 and 760 of 2026, issued based on the Egyptian Football Association’s presentation.

Al-Shorouk newspaper said that Al-Bayyadi said that the Egyptian national team’s participation in the World Cup is an important national event that deserves full support, but he stressed that supporting the national team does not mean opening the door to “travels, dollar allocations, and possible courtesies at the expense of public money.”

He added, “We are all happy that the Egyptian national team is going to the World Cup, and we all want the national team to receive all the support and care, but people have the right to ask: Who will travel? Why will they travel? And they chose him on what basis? Where will every dollar spent from public money go?”

He explained that the decisions of the Ministry of Youth and Sports revealed a significant expansion in the formation of the mission and its names, even though the mission of a football team is supposed to be specific and clear, and include players, the technical staff, the medical staff, and the administrators directly related to the team’s needs.

He pointed out that the decisions included multiple titles, including security coordination, ticket officials, stadium security, ceremonies, financial and tax affairs, transfers, communications, and other administrative titles, asking, “Are we going to the World Cup? Or are we racing to waste public money and to compliment friends and loved ones at the expense of the people?!”

He continued that the World Cup is an internationally organized tournament, and most of its procedures have become electronic and centralized, whether in tickets, credits, entry, or transportation, adding, “What does it mean for a ticket official to travel in a tournament managed by a central electronic system?”