Induced by Egypt keeper Al-Sayed, a dozen of players filed complaints against Zamalek Saturday over their overdue payments.

Consequently, the capital giants decided to strip Al-Sayed of captaincy, a decision he later said would be enough reason for him to immediately part company with the club.

Afterwards, Zamalek confirmed the 33-year-old will no longer wear the armband, and then sanctioned him along with other six players.

"The coaching staff decided to punish septet Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed, Ibrahim Salah, Mohamed Abdul-Shafi, Ahmed Gaafar, Ashour Al-Adham, Hazem Emam and Alaa Ali," football director Ibrahim Hassan told FilGoal.com.

"They will be sanctioned because of their media statements, which were released without our authorization."

Zamalek have been suffering a severe financial crunch and haven't been able to fulfill their financial obligations towards their players for months.