Egypt ministry denies blocking Coldplay concert

Egypt’s tourism ministry has denied claims it rejected requests by British rock band Coldplay to perform a concert near the great Pyramids, days after unverified reports caused a buzz among social media users in the country.

Rumors suggested that Coldplay, who enjoy a huge fan base in Egypt, asked to play at the Pyramids on New Year’s Eve but the tourism ministry allegedly delayed, and took a “long time” in replying to the request.

But ministry spokeswoman Oumayma El Hussieny described the accusations as “baseless”, saying the ministry had not not received such a requests, VetoGate reports.

"To start with, the Ministry of Tourism hasn't received any offers from JWT to throw a Coldplay concert by the Pyramids," she confirmed.

Hany Shokry, CEO of JWT Egypt, which heads up Egypt’s tourist marketing overseas, told online news portal Masrawy that the concert had not been canceled and that coordinating with the band “needed time.”

Two months ago, Coldplay fans in Egypt expressed excitement after the band tweeted saying “they would love to play in Egypt someday.”

It remains unclear if the band has been officially approached to perform in Egypt.