Meteb joined Standard as a free agent after his contract with Ahli expired but he abruptly returned to Cairo few days after being unveiled as a new signing for the 10-time Belgian champions.

The Egyptian striker, who could not also complete a move to English second-division side Bristol City in the summer of 2008, might be suspended and fined for a breach of contract.

"I have been in contact with Meteb since he went to Belgium. I was surprised to see him return to Egypt and cite flimsy excuses for that," Shehata said in a telephone interview with Nile Sport.

"He told me the reasons for his decision but I was not convinced," the highly-successful coach, who steered Egypt to three successive African Cup of Nations titles, added but declined to disclose those reasons.

Shehata used to rely on Meteb as his first-choice striker but opted to leave him out of Egypt's squad for the 6-3 midweek friendly defeat of DR Congo as a result of the ongoing dispute.

The 27-year-old is also likely to miss the Pharaohs' clash against Sierra Leone in Group G opener of the 2012 Nations Cup qualifiers next month.

"Meteb's saga proves that our players can not cope with the demands of playing abroad," Shehata said.

"Apart from (Borussia Dortmund forward) Mohamed Zidan, the majority of Egyptian players returned home.

"I hope that (Sunderland's new signing) Ahmed Al-Muhammadi will not do the same."