Zamalek president Mortada Mansour has imposed a hefty fine on the club’s players after been angered by the 0-0 draw with Petrojet in their Egyptian Premier League opening match on Tuesday.
The stalemate at Suez Stadium was not the kind of start Mansour expected, leading to players each being penalised 100 000 EGP.
It was a match in which Zamalek could have easily won had they not missed a gluttony of good scoring chances.
Petrojet survived the relentless attacks from Zamalek who are bidding to wrestle the league title away from defending champions and arch rivals Al-Ahly.
But Zamalek’s dropping of two points did not go down well with Mansour who has been dubbed 'Africa’s Florentino Perez' due to the comparisons made with the the bold and robust Real Madrid president.
“The fine isn’t because of the performance, it was good today and we had more than 10 chances to score,” Mansour was quoted as saying by KingFut.
“The fine was imposed due to the easy chances that were missed,” he added.
For Zamalek coach Christian Gross, it was not the perfect start as the Swiss hoped to steer the five-time African Champions back to the Caf Champions League.
However, The former Tottenham boss could feel inspired after Mansour showered him with praise.
“In his first official game with the club, Christian Gross has given Zamalek a good shape in the field which helped the players create chances, but they couldn’t take advantage of. Everything will improve by time, I consider this game as a friendly,” Mansour said.
It was an opening day of the league race which was marred by draws with Al Ittihad and Al Mokawloon settling for a 1-1 draw in the other match.
Defending champions Al-Ahly will open their campaign against Ismaily on Thursday in the biggest match of match day one.
Zamalek are now hoping to improve their fortunes on Saturday when they host Al Itiihad in their next match.
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