Egypt’s all-time leading scorer Hossam Hassan has been spared a possible prison sentence after a police photographer dropped his case against the former striker.
The Al Masry coach had been due to appear in court on Saturday charged with assaulting the photographer after an Egyptian league match last Friday.
The incident happened as players and officials from Al Masry and Ghazl Al Mahalla clashed after the two sides drew 2-2.
“I decided to end the case as I love city of Port Said [where Al Masry is based] and let me tell you that I love Hossam Hassan and his twin Ibrahim as they made the Egyptians happy,” the police photographer Reda Abdelmaged said to reporters.
“I saw what Hossam’s kid wrote on her Facebook when she said she was sad because she might see her dad in prison – and he words made me sad so I decided to end it all.”
Despite the case being dropped Hassan will stay in prison as the Masry chairman Samir Halabiya explained.
“The policeman has dropped the case but Hossam will stay in the prison until next Saturday and he will still appear in court and that’s when the case will end,” he explained.
“We thank all who helped us in this case.”
On Saturday the Egyptian Football Association suspended Hassan from taking part in his club’s next three matches and fined him around US$1,100.
Al Masry will play Ismaili on Friday in the Egypt Cup with Hassan’s twin brother Ibrahim, who is team director, in charge leading the team with assistant coach Tarek Soliman.
Hassan represented Egypt in the 1990 World Cup and seven Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, winning the 1986, 1998 and 2006 editions.
