Egyptian Sports Minister Suspends Coach Over Alleged Assault on Young Table Tennis Player
- Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports Gohar Nabil has ordered the immediate suspension of table tennis coach Mohammad Mumtaz and demanded an urgent investigation following video footage that...
- The ministry directive instructs both the Egyptian Olympic Committee and the Egyptian Table Tennis Federation to enforce the suspension and apply the strictest disciplinary penalties allowed under current...
- Despite the official action, the young athlete's mother released a video on social media denying that her daughter was struck.
Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports Gohar Nabil has ordered the immediate suspension of table tennis coach Mohammad Mumtaz and demanded an urgent investigation following video footage that allegedly shows him striking 10-year-old player Zeina Farouk during the World Hope Week tournament in Sheffield, England, alkhaleej.ae reported on Oct. 24, 2026.
Minister Orders Suspension and Urgent Probe
The ministry directive instructs both the Egyptian Olympic Committee and the Egyptian Table Tennis Federation to enforce the suspension and apply the strictest disciplinary penalties allowed under current regulations.
Mother Defends Coach and Denies Slap
Despite the official action, the young athlete’s mother released a video on social media denying that her daughter was struck. She stated that the coach merely moved his hand through the air without making physical contact with the 10-year-old player’s face. He didn’t touch her face,
she maintained, adding that the child showed no distress or crying afterward.
The mother further claimed that Mohammad Mumtaz has trained her daughter since she was five years old and shares a close relationship with the family. She criticized local authorities in England for detaining the coach, arguing that the intervention left the child without a guardian and negatively affected her match performance.
Dispute Over Alleged Account Settling
The mother also alleged that a former official within the Egyptian Table Tennis Federation exaggerated the incident on social media to settle internal scores. She asserted that the circulation of the footage represents an unfair attack on her daughter’s privacy and called for the coach to be cleared of the allegations.
Federation Investigation and Next Steps
The Egyptian Table Tennis Federation and the Egyptian Olympic Committee are now tasked with reviewing the incident in line with official sports legislation and reporting their findings back to the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The formal inquiry remains underway as sporting authorities evaluate both the circulating video evidence and the testimony provided by the player’s family.