African football shaken as former Premier League star receives prison sentence

An Egyptian footballer has just been sentenced to one year in prison for academic fraud, closing a long-running scandal following a prior suspension due to doping offenses.

Egyptian football is rocked as Ramadan Sobhi, a former national team player and Premier League competitor, was sentenced by the Giza Criminal Court to one year in prison for involvement in academic cheating at a private school in Egypt.

According to local media, the case began in July 2025 when Sobhi was arrested shortly after returning from Turkey, where he and Pyramids FC had completed their preseason training camp. The 28-year-old player is accused of falsifying documents and having someone else take exams on his behalf at a private hospitality and tourism academy in Giza, central Egypt.

Following investigation and trial, the Giza Court sentenced Ramadan Sobhi and an accomplice to one year of imprisonment with forced labor, while another defendant was acquitted and a fugitive suspect was sentenced to ten years in absentia.

Sobhi’s lawyer has yet to comment on the verdict. Besides facing jail time, Ramadan Sobhi is also under a four-year suspension for violating anti-doping regulations, a penalty confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last November.

Sobhi is one of the most prominent Egyptian footballers of the past decade. He has played 37 matches for the national team, starting his career at Al Ahly before moving to England to play for Stoke City and Huddersfield Town since 2016.

In 2020, Sobhi returned home to join Pyramids FC, where he became a pivotal figure in helping the club win their first-ever CAF Champions League title after defeating Mamelodi Sundowns in the final.

From being an icon of Egyptian football, Ramadan Sobhi now faces a bleak futurewith his career nearly over due to numerous troubles both on and off the pitch.