"(Coach) Tarek Al-Ashri wanted to participate in order to give his players the experience of playing in Africa and so we decided to take part," Hazem Al-Gharib, the team's football director, told FilGoal.com.

Al-Gharib revealed that they have already sent their withdrawal letter to the Egyptian FA but the latter preferred to wait for the final decision before sending it.

Harras Al-Hodoud will start their campaign against Mouloudia Algiers.