Maher "Mauro" Hamza (born ) is a fencing coach who was born in

Cairo, Egypt Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. He coached at

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

, for US national teams, and for the Egyptian Olympic team. In November 2023, Hamza was ruled permanently ineligible by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, which cited "

Sexual Misconduct Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, ...

- involving Minors" as the reason for his ban.

Biography

1994–2014

In 1994, Hamza coached at

for one year. Hamza then served as Fencing Program Coordinator at

from 1995 to 2014. He spent three years serving the Southwest fencing community as volunteer Chairman of the Gulf Coast Division. In August 1999, he established a youth fencing club, Salle Mauro, in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas, where he lived. He also lived in

Pearland, Texas Pearland ( ) is a city in Brazoria County, Texas, Brazoria County, with portions extending into Fort Bend County, Texas, Fort Bend and Harris County, Texas, Harris counties, in Texas, United States. The city of Pearland is a principal city wit ...

, in 2011. Hamza was head coach of the 2001 United States Junior/Cadet national fencing team. Hamza was the Egyptian Olympic coach for the men’s and women’s foil teams at the Athens Olympics in 2004, and was the United States Fencing Association Men’s Foil National Coach 2009–10; then USA Fencing Foil Director for Men’s and Women’s National teams in 2010–11. In 2009, December 26 was declared “Mauro Hamza Day” by Houston mayor Bill White in recognition of his development of the sport of fencing in Houston."Bill White Proclaims December 26 Mauro Hamza Day in Houston, Texas"

2014–present

On December 3, 2014, Hamza's membership with USA Fencing was suspended until December 4, 2019, or until certain conditions were met, whichever would be later. His suspension was for unspecified

sexual misconduct Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, ...

in Houston. Five years later, in 2019 he was suspended again by the U.S. Center for SafeSport for “Allegations of Misconduct”. In 2020, Hamza was the technical director of the Egyptian National Fencing Team. In 2021, Hamza was coaching in Egypt, and was the technical director leading the Egyptian National Youth Fencing Team. He coaches his son Mohamed Hamza, who fences for the Egyptian national fencing team and fenced for

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. In March 2021, a once aspiring Olympic fencer filed a

civil lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. T ...

Maricopa County Maricopa County () is a county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the fourth-most populous county in the United States and ...

Superior Court in Arizona against him accusing Hamza of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s when she was a minor. The lawsuit was moved to the

United States District Court for the District of Arizona The United States District Court for the District of Arizona (in case citations, D. Ariz.) is the U.S. district court that covers the state of Arizona. It is under the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The District was esta ...

, and settled in December 2022 by Hamza and the US Fencing Association. In November 2023, Hamza was ruled permanently ineligible by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, which cited "

- involving Minors" as the reason for his ban.

Personal life

Hamza's wife is Noura Younis, who as of 2021 was general manager of Salle Mauro.

References

Living people Banned sportspeople Egyptian male foil fencers Year of birth missing (living people) Rice University staff Fencing coaches Sportspeople from Pearland, Texas Sexual misconduct Sportspeople from Houston Sportspeople from Cairo {{Egypt-fencing-bio-stub

Biography

1994–2014

2014–present

Personal life

See also

References