Egypt has closed its World Cup campaign with a penalty as the football governing body FIFA fined the African team $50,000 for playing a friendly during 21-27 May period set by the Switzerland-based organization as mandatory time for players to rest before the World Cup kickoff.
The new sanction befell Egypt for playing against Kuwait in a warmup game on May 25.
FIFA prohibited World Cup teams to hold friendlies between 21 and 27 May, a period the organization has spelt out as mandatory rest week “in order to protect players before the final competition.”
Egypt’s world class player Mohamed Salah did not play the match as he was in Kiev, Ukraine for the European Champions League final with his club Liverpool against Real Madrid.
The week rest period does not include the Champions League final.
Egypt moved out of the World Cup in Russia scoring no point. They lost all their group stage matches against Uruguay, host Russia and lowly ranked Saudi Arabia.
