“I am Mohamed Mostafa Ali El-Shami, a member of Egypt’s national freestyle wrestling team.

I apologize to my father and my family for everything that happened. I never wanted things to reach this point. Wrestling was and still is a huge part of my life. I started when I was 7 years old, and I spent many years dreaming of raising Egypt’s flag and achieving something that people would remember.

Alhamdulillah, I was able to raise my country’s flag at African championships and many international competitions. My biggest dream was to win an Olympic medal and reach the highest level possible in the sport that I loved and dedicated my entire life to.

But at a certain point, I saw that my father was exhausted and that life had become difficult for him. I am the eldest of my siblings, so someone had to make a sacrifice and take responsibility.

I apologize again to my father and my family, and to everyone who stood by me, helped me, and supported me throughout my career. I will never forget anyone who supported me.

But I had no choice. I found myself getting older, and I could no longer bring myself to ask my father for things. The financial support I receive is not enough for me to live a decent life. I need to secure my future and my livelihood, and that simply wasn’t possible.

This had to happen because, God forbid, if I had suffered an injury, I would have had nothing. If I stopped wrestling, I would have received no support despite everything I had achieved.

Maybe the path has changed, and maybe the dream has been delayed, but the dream itself is still alive.

Inshallah, I will return to continue my career, raise my country’s flag again, and try to achieve the dream I haven’t been able to achieve yet.

May Allah grant me what is best.

It’s a simple calculation: even if I stayed in the same situation I was in for another 15 years, I still wouldn’t be able to afford an apartment to get married and start a family. Thank you.”

Those are only the cases from the past few days!