Monday 01/December/2025 – 10:32 AM
Ayman Al-Ramadi, the former Zamalek club coach and current National Bank coach, was keen to respond to the statements made by the Belgian Yannick Ferreira about the White Castle in the past hours.
Ayman Al-Ramadi’s statements
Al-Ramadi wrote on his official account on the social networking site Facebook: A friend sent me parts of Yannick Ferreira’s dialogue with Captain Schubert, and the truth is that the least that can be said about this dialogue is that it is a dialogue that does not have any respect on the part of Yannick Ferreira for the literature of the coaching profession. The truth is that over the course of 30 years of work, I have never in my life been subjected to evaluating the work of a coach or presenting my point of view on a coach, and when I was doing analysis in tournaments or at events on the Abu Dhabi Sports Channel or Dubai Sports Channel, I never evaluate a coach and belittle him, but I was only explaining tactical situations on the field, whether positive or negative, without expressing my opinion about the coaches, especially those who work with us in the same league, because I consider this to be one of the most important etiquettes of respect for the coaching profession.
He added: But with Yannick Ferreira’s speech, I say to him, “Excuse me, Ferreira. You have exceeded the limits of respect for the profession by speaking about some matters that you should not have spoken about. Firstly, out of respect for the history of a club that is one of the two largest poles in the history of Egyptian, African and Arab football. I consider your argument to be weak in some of the matters that you raised and in which you underestimated the value of a large and ancient club.”
He continued: Mr. Ferreira, you spoke at length about the subject of analyzing the Al-Ahly team, and that because of the club’s lack of capabilities, you were not able to analyze the Al-Ahly team. Does this make sense? Are Al-Ahly’s matches limited to the program? Is this what a great coach says? Sir, Al-Ahly before you used to play every 3 or 4 days, and its matches were even on YouTube, sir. You can, without even bothering to search, see all of Al-Ahly’s matches, without programs, and you analyze everything big and small about Al-Ahly, without programs, my friend.
He continued: We went through more difficult than that, without going into details, before the Pyramids match in the cup final, and despite that, the team saw every detail, every big and small, about the Pyramids team. Does not paying for an analysis program subscription hinder you from analyzing the opponent while we are on the verge of 2026? Does this make sense?
He went on to say: The other thing, my friend, is that you have the right to demand your financial rights, but that is not the case. Idiots are supplied, my friend. I know very well that the Board of Directors is wrong in managing the file related to the termination of your services, because this matter is through clarity and confrontation and not through evasion, but you have legitimate ways to take your rights, and these methods, whether you support them or oppose them, are in the end legitimate ways, and you have the right to take them, which is the way to take rights through FIFA, but you do not have the right to publish everything that was inside. Closed rooms, and this is a mistake that may even be held accountable by FIFA.
He continued: My dear, from the literature of the coaching profession, as long as you are satisfied with coaching, outside the club you do not come after your dismissal and talk about how the stadium was bad, the room was bad, and there were no chairs. So where were you at that time? Why were you not decisive at the time with the Board of Directors and spoke strongly and seriously that the stadium was not suitable?
Al-Ramadi revealed: My dear, I will tell you something that happened to me personally, and to a player that was secretly broadcast after a week of work with Zamalek, specifically the date of May 8, 25 days before the cup final. I had requested some tools, including 8 small goals for training, some elastics for Explosive Action training, and some other tools, and I felt some procrastination in bringing those tools for a week, so all I did was stop training, refused to go on the field, and sat on a chair, and did not go on the field until they brought me. They brought all the tools the next day, and if the tools had not been brought, believe me, I would have resigned immediately, because this is my job and I am entrusted to a team and responsible in front of a large audience.
He continued: The same thing happened when I asked to work in a closed camp for 4 days in Ismailia. If the Board of Directors had not responded to me, I would have resigned immediately because this is my job. That is, yes, the camp could not work for 4 days and we were satisfied with only three days. But what is not fully realized cannot be left completely. So why did you not insist on your tools and a respectable stadium and a meeting room? This is not a big deal for an ancient club like Zamalek. Why did you not insist even if the officials did not respond? A firm stance must be taken even if you resign.
The former Zamalek coach said: My friend, unfortunately I did not want to delve into this topic out of respect for the ethics of the profession, but the honesty of the words and the way of presentation provoked me a lot, so for the first time I am speaking to you so that everyone knows the hidden truth, and not those justifications that you volunteered to list while you remained silent for a full five months, but after you volunteered to list matters that belittle the great club, your narration, with all due respect and appreciation, is a narration that is all fallacies.
He responded by saying: The truth is that after the cup final, the team took a passive rest, without any training, for a period of approximately 35 days. The cup final was on June 5, 2025. The team’s assembly began on July 8, that is, after exactly 34 days of passive rest without any training. Here was the surprise that the team’s program included a friendly match 72 hours after the assembly. Where does this happen and in what program does this happen? Does the physiological sciences acknowledge this? The result of this was that defender Ahmed Hossam suffered a cruciate ligament injury and a number of injuries and physical problems that did not occur. The team is getting rid of it so far, and too many things like this have happened.
He criticized the club management, saying: And here all the blame lies with the club management. Unfortunately, they did not use the report submitted by me to bring in the Technical Director, a sports director who understands technical matters. He was able to prevent this work, and to be fair, this is also what Ahmed Hossam Mido recommended. The truth of the matter is that the club management believed, and this is a mistaken belief, that John Edward is a sports director, and this is not John Edwards’ specialty. With all due respect and appreciation, his main job is a contract officer only, so he can negotiate with a player, and I think John is smart. In this aspect, but it is not his job to select players, and to think about a style and way of playing, this is not his job, and it is also not his job to monitor the training program, and discuss with the technical director, and this is a major disaster.
He concluded his speech by saying: At the end of the conversation, a very important note: My respect for this entity and my love for this audience and this ancient club, is what prompted me to write this in defense against anyone who belittles this great sporting edifice, but unfortunately what makes me hesitate a lot in expressing my opinion so that some people do not think that I have ambition for a position, and despite the fact that working in the Zamalek club is a great honor for anyone and despite my love and appreciation for its great fans who cheered for me in a competitive match, which has never happened to anyone, this is a badge on my chest and a crown on my head. Despite all this, everyone close to me knows that I have no ambition to hold any position within the club because, quite simply, there are two reasons. The first reason is that this way of working within the Zamalek Club is not suitable for me, nor am I suitable for it, so I have no desire to hold any position. The other and most important reason is that I hold the position of technical director of the National Bank Club, which works under respectable leadership, and I am very happy to work in it with this wonderful group of players, a wonderful respected group of management, a distinguished technical staff, and a respected and busy football manager.
