CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) – The head of Egypt’s legendary Zamalek football club, Mortada Mansour, said Saturday he would be standing in the presidential election in March.
“I will be a candidate in the presidential election and I will start to collect sponsors,” he wrote on Facebook.
He also confirmed his intention to run on a television show, saying he “had to gather about 25,000 signatures in 15 provinces in just 10 days”.
The National Elections Authority will accept applications from presidential hopefuls between January 20 and 29.
Voting will be on March 26-28, with a second round on April 24-26 if required.
Despite not yet having announced his candidacy, incumbent Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is widely expected to stand and win in the first round.
Campaigning begins on February 24 and will last until March 23.
Sisi, the former army chief, was elected in 2014, a year after leading the military to oust his predecessor Mohamed Morsi amid mass protests against the Islamist’s year-long rule.
On January 7, former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, once seen as a main challenger to Sisi, said he would not be a candidate, reversing a previous pledge to stand.
Other potential candidates include Khaled Ali, a rights lawyer and 2012 presidential candidate, and military colonel Ahmed Konsowa.
However, Konsowa was given six years in prison in December by a military court after the previous month announcing his intention to stand. (Agence France-Presse)
