Egypt defender Beshir Al-Tabie insisted that he quit the national team camp who were preparing for the African Cup of Nations (ACN) for personal reasons.

“I officially apologized to the coaching staff from staying in the team camp due to my lack of concentration during the past period for personal reasons I’m going through, and I asked them to exclude my name from the final squad list participating in the ACN,” Al-Tabie said in a phone call that was aired on the Egyptian Satellite Channel on Thursday.

Egypt coach Hassan Shehata ruled out the Rizespor full-back from the final squad list after insisting that the player abandoned the team training on Wednesday.

“Any rumours hinting that I abandoned Wednesday’s training without permission are totally false, I was given the coaching staff’s official consent. The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) president and the coaching staff are fully aware of what happened and are supportive of my decision,” Al-Tabie added.

Al-Tabie also insisted that he never refused to play Egypt’s match against Uganda and said that he doesn’t interfere in the coaching staff’s decisions.