Egyptian football champions Zamalek are under pressure to immediately appoint a new coach after firing all their interim coaching staff after their latest defeat.

“Club President Mortada Mansour and board members decided to kick all coaching staff out of the club. They… will not be allowed to enter again,” Zamalek member board Gamal Abdel-Hamid said.

Zamalek, who sacked Portuguese coach Jesualdo Ferreira two weeks ago for the second time in two months, lost 2-3 against Al-Masry on Tuesday.

This was despite having led by two goals after 21 minutes.

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The club remain in fifth place in the league, 11 points behind rivals Al-Ahly, who also have three games in hand.

Zamalek have put an axe into the side which won the title last year by six points.

They have benched four players for the rest of the season and ripping up the coaching leadership team.

The club did not name the four players they said would not feature for the rest of the season.

German Heiko Herrlich is the favourite to take over the coaching role and could be unveiled as early as later on Wednesday.

Zamalek Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Zamalek, is an Egyptian sports club based in Giza. It is one of the most successful football clubs in Africa and the Middle East, and was the most titled club in African tournaments in the 20th century.

The club was founded on 5 January 1911 as Qasr El Nile Club and was first headed by the Belgian lawyer George Merzbach. The name was changed two years later to Cairo International Sports Club (C.I.S.C.), colloquially El Qāhirah El Mokhtalat Club or El Mokhtalat Club.

(Reuters/NAN)