Egyptian soccer team denied stay in Seattle before World Cup match

The Egyptian national soccer team was denied a request to stay in Seattle after their World Cup match against New Zealand, and the team is instead returning to Spokane, according to its manager.

Fresh off its first World Cup win ever, the team hoped to stay in Seattle after defeating New Zealand on Sunday in a game played in Vancouver, B.C. The Egyptian team is scheduled to play Iran on Friday at Seattle’s Lumen Field, aka Seattle Stadium.

A statement on the Egyptian soccer team’s website attributed to team manager Ibrahim Hassan stated the team’s request to stay in Seattle had been denied.

“Ibrahim Hassan, the manager of the Egyptian national team, confirmed that the security authorities rejected the request for the team to stay in Seattle as planned after the New Zealand match in the World Cup, and therefore the team delegation will return to Spokane,” according to a translation of the statement from Arabic, corroborated by Al Jazeera.

The team had wanted “to travel directly to Seattle to protect the players from travel fatigue due to the large number of transfers,” in preparation for the Iran match on Friday, but instead, the Egyptian national team will return to Spokane.

It was unclear in the statement who was the “security authority” that rejected the team’s request.

A Seattle Times inquiry Monday to FIFA, the organizing body of the World Cup, was not returned. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Monday evening referred questions to FIFA. A message seeking further comment from the Egyptian national soccer team, likewise, was not returned.

In a later statement, Hassan said the team arrived Monday in Spokane on a private plane provided by FIFA.

While Egyptians make up only a tiny fraction of the Seattle metro area’s population, the small community was preparing to host as many as 10,000 Egyptians to the region as their team competes.

Spokane has been the team’s base during the tournament, with the team practicing at Gonzaga University and staying at the Northern Quest Resort and Casino, according to The Spokesman-Review newspaper.

Seattle Times staff reporter Tim Booth contributed to this story.