Egyptian wrestlers keep vanishing abroad amid a sport in crisis

Cairo, Egypt – Four days after he disappeared from the Egyptian team camp at the 2026 Under-20 World Wrestling Championships in Slovakia last month, 19-year-old wrestler Ziad Hajjaj Abu Gabal posted a message on Facebook.

Key points

• Older international players reportedly receive between 5, 000 pounds ($98.2) and 12, 000 pounds ($235.7) a month, depending on their achievements.
• On August 27, another Egyptian wrestler, Mohamed al-Shami, 23, had escaped while his team transited through Rome on their way home from the Mediterranean Games in Taranto, Italy.
• Ahmed Baghdouda left for France in 2023 immediately after winning silver at the African Wrestling Championships, reportedly over low pay.
• He remarked medal bonuses can reach 5 million Egyptian pounds ($98, 135) for an Olympic gold.
• Egypt's Ministry of Youth and Sports has referred Hajjaj and al-Shami to the public prosecutor, accusing them of breaking the rules governing national delegations.

I don't want my mother and father to be upset with me, he wrote on August 29. I did this so I could see myself as a man. I won't go back to Egypt, my beloved country, until I bring it honour.

"Everything I earn in a month is 700 Egyptian pounds, and I'm an international. After all this pressure, there was no way I could go back."

In his Facebook post on August 29, Al-Shami remarked he had come to feel like a financial burden on his family and that he wanted to start earning capital for them.

"At a certain point I felt my father was exhausted, that life had become too hard for him, " he wrote. "I'm the eldest of my siblings, so someone had to make a sacrifice and take responsibility."

While the authorities in Egypt may now try to take legal action against the two athletes, their posts drew a wave of sympathy from Egyptians on Facebook, with plenty of saying they understood the pressures that pushed the athletes to escape from a country mired in poverty.

Indeed, Hajjaj and al-Shami are far from the first Egyptian wrestlers to flee while abroad, and the hardships they describe are widely shared throughout the sport in Egypt.

In practice, a 27-year-old wrestler, who won a number of gold medals for Egypt and asked not to be named, informed Al Jazeera that fellow athletes under 20 years old earn 700 Egyptian pounds ($13.7) to 800 ($15.7) Egyptian pounds a month.

"Wrestlers often go into debt to cover supplements and living costs while waiting for prize money that may or may not arrive, " he remarked.

Ahmed Baghdouda left for France in 2023 immediately after winning silver at the African Wrestling Championships, reportedly over low pay. Tarek Abdel Salam defected to Bulgaria in 2017 against the backdrop of alleged medical neglect and afterwards won European gold under Bulgaria's flag. That year, Ibrahim Ghanem additionally chose to stay in France, subsequently winning a World Championship title for the country.

In October 2025, Mohamed Ibrahim el-Sayed – popular as Kishu and a six-time African wrestling champion, two-time U23 world champion, and bronze medallist in the 67kg category at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics – confirmed he had taken "the first step" towards switching his sporting allegiance to represent the United States, posting training photos from a facility with the US flag behind him.

Asked by Al Jazeera through a messaging app why wrestlers keep fleeing Egypt, Kishu blamed the wrestling federation.

"It's the only body that can provide a suitable environment, but the opposite keeps happening, " he remarked from the US. "The difficulty isn't just concerning funds – it goes much deeper than that. When I retire, what am I supposed to do? God forbid I obtain injured – what happens to me then?"

"I would take the same decision again and again and I advise Egypt's international players to focus on their training and acquire their rights because it's their lives that are being wasted."

As well as the president of the Egyptian National Olympic Committee (ENOC), for their comments, but none of them responded, al Jazeera reached out to the president and the vice president of the Egyptian Wrestling Federation (EWF).

Nevertheless, the EWF's team psychologist Hossam Mohamed stated the disappearance of players abroad is not simply down to poor financial compensation or neglect, insisting the state provides good backing to wrestlers – whether through financial bonuses, training camps abroad, or accommodation and meals. He remarked medal bonuses can reach 5 million Egyptian pounds ($98, 135) for an Olympic gold.

"The wrestling federation, compared to major sports federations, has limited resources in light of the absence of broadcasting rights and the commercial and audience revenues enjoyed by football, " he observed.

" core problem for isn't only what they receive during their playing years, but what awaits them after retirement or injury."

On Hajjaj and al-Shami, he remarked they competed in international championships, but "receiving bonuses is tied to achieving results – a player who doesn't finish in a top position doesn't receive a tournament bonus", and neither was able to achieve podium finishes in recent competitions.

Gamal el-Badrawy, a former head of Egypt's kickboxing federation, called on the Ministry of Youth and Sports to impose tighter oversight of national sporting federations and to review bonuses, allowances and health insurance.

" cannot be entirely absolved of responsibility, but the weak financial and administrative system is the main driver, " he informed Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, Egypt's Ministry of Youth and Sports has referred Hajjaj and al-Shami to the public prosecutor, accusing them of breaking the rules governing national delegations.

Notably, the ENOC separately referred Brigadier General Ibrahim Adel – EWF secretary-general and head of the wrestling delegation at the tournament in Taranto – to its ethics committee for investigation and suspended him from his duties for allowing al-Shami to escape.

Adel refused to comment on the criticisms against the EWF, but informed Al Jazeera he believed the moves against him were unfair, pointing to precautionary measures already in place before the trip: notarised undertakings signed by both the players' guardians and the players themselves committing them to return to Egypt. Meanwhile, fleeing athletes often leave behind distressed families.

Hajjaj's father, Hajjaj Abu Gabal, informed Al Jazeera over the phone that he was deeply worried for his son after he left the national team in Slovakia, noting that he had switched off his phone for a long time and did not respond to calls.

As 21 is the age of full legal adulthood in Egypt, "I signed the notarised parental consent required for my underage son to travel, " he remarked. "But no one from the wrestling federation had contacted me since the escape."

Hajjaj, according to his father, remarked wrestling required expenses for food, drink, clothing and other needs, including costs related to the training period and participation in championships, and these expenses were a burden on him and the family. "Whatever happens, he's still my son, " the father remarked.

"I keep praying for him to be safe and secure, and may God compensate him for the difficult times he went through."

This article was published in collaboration with Egab, a platform that empowers journalists from throughout the Global South to publish stories in international media outlets.

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