The Egyptian FA published the composition of the three groups and the fixtures for Group A, which includes teams in Upper Egypt. The composition of the groups was problematic, because all the three teams that were relegated from the Premier League could have been comprised in Group A, where they were when they promoted: Misr Lel Makkasa, El Gouna and Eastern Company.
However, eventually only two of them were assigned to Group A: Misr Lel Makkasa and El Gouna, while Eastern Company was included in Group B (comprising teams in the Cairo area). Because only one team promoted from Group A (Aswan SC), and two teams were relegated to this group, one more team had to be moved to Group B: Media (El Alameen), which is also located in the Cairo area. Therefore, after a long time when Group A included at least one team from the Cairo area, in 2022-2023 there are no teams from Cairo in Group A. All teams in Group A are located in Upper and Middle Egypt, and one team (El Gouna) is located in the Red Sea Governorate.
The four relegated teams (El Badari, Qena, Sohag and Beni Suef) from Group A have been replaced by four teams promoted from the Third Division: Al Nasr Lel Taa'den, Asyut Cement, Shaban Qena and La Viena FC.
There will be a bit crowded at Alassiouty Sports Resort, with potentially three teams playing their home matches there: La Viena FC (which is truly the home team there), Fayoum SC (which have already confirmed that they will play their home matches there) and Telephonat Beni Suef, which played their home matches there last season. However, it is possible that Telephonat Beni Suef move to the stadium in Beni Suef. Another question regards the stadium in Fayoum, which have not been used in the last years due to works, but two teams might play there if available, Misr Lel Makkasa and Fayoum SC.
Fixtures have also been announced, although no specific dates have been yet provided.
In Group A, the following matches are scheduled in the first round:
Telephonat Beni Suef - Naser Mallawi
Aluminium - El Gouna
Asyut Cement - Asyut Petroleum
El Minya - La Viena FC
Fayoum - Shaban Qena
Misr Lel Makkasa - Dayrout
Al Madina Al Monawara - KIMA Aswan
Al Nasr Lel Taa'den - M.S. Tamya
The winner of each group of the Second Division will promote to the Premier League. The situation of the relegation is unknown yet, as there are plans to create a professional Second Division starting with 2023-2024, comprising only one group of about 18 teams. This may mean that only those classified second through six in each Second Division group may remain in the future professional Second Division, while the others may be relegated. This is expected to be clarified by the Egyptian FA before the 2022-2023 season starts. Similar plans in the past have been challenged by a serious opposition from Second Division clubs.
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