A trophy that the Pharaohs, the national soccer team of Egypt won for keeps has gone missing and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) says it is shocked.
“CAF has learnt with shock reports of missing AFCON trophies from the Egyptian Football Association secretariat,” CAF said in a tweet today, adding, “Our doors are open and the EFA can count on our support in the search for the priceless memorabilia.”
The missing cup is gold plated and had been won for keeps when Egypt emerged victorious for the third consecutive time at the African Cup of nations, 2010 edition.
According to the Egyptian FA, the trophy along with other souvenirs of sporting achievements has gone missing.
“As the Egyptian FA is currently developing the main headquarters, including changing the entrance to a small museum of Egyptian football, the management was shocked by the disappearance of some old trophies from the storeroom,” a statement from the FA said.
The statement added that an investigation has been launched. “The Egyptian Football Association is now investigating the trophies’ disappearance to determine if those old trophies were saved after the building was burned … or if they were lost when the building was exposed during this incident.”
In 2013, the headquarters of the FA was raided by angry fans forcing authorities to transfer various trophies into a storeroom.
Officials searched for them recently after a decision to renovate the FA office’ entrance so that Egypt’s laurels could be displayed.