The Referees Committee of the Football Association issued a statement regarding the incidents in the match between Al-Ahly and ZED in the second round of the league.
Karim Shahata, a presenter on Al-Hayat Channel, stated that referee Mohamed Maarouf asked Wael Gomaa, Al-Ahly's football director, to substitute player Ali Mahmoud to prevent him from receiving a red card and thus protect him.
The Supreme Council for Media summoned the legal representative of Al-Hayat Channel due to Karim Shahata's violation of media codes... View details by clicking here
The Referees Committee clarified in its statement: "The main Referees Committee of the Egyptian Football Association has followed what has been circulated over the past hours regarding the incident involving referee Mohamed Maarouf and Wael Gomaa, Al-Ahly Club's football director, during the Al-Ahly vs. ZED match, as well as the allegations raised concerning player Ali Mahmoud."
The statement added: "The Referees Committee confirms that it held a meeting to discuss the incident and fully listened to the recordings from the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technical room to ascertain the truth of what occurred."
It continued: "After reviewing and listening to the recordings, the Referees Committee found no evidence that referee Mohamed Maarouf spoke to Wael Gomaa regarding player Ali Mahmoud. Rather, the conversation concerned Al-Ahly Club requesting a foul call and the football director's (Wael Gomaa) objection. Referee Mohamed Maarouf responded that there was no foul and that the situation had been reviewed by the VAR official. There was absolutely no mention in the dialogue of the referee requesting the player's substitution to protect him, as alleged in the media."
The Referees Committee expressed gratitude to the Supreme Council for Media for summoning the channel's legal representative to a hearing session due to this violation: "The committee commends the council's proactive decision, which reflects its commitment to regulating the media landscape and preserving professional values. The committee confirms it was preparing to approach the council to take necessary action regarding the incident, but the decision came swiftly, which the committee highly appreciates and praises."
The statement further added: "The committee reaffirms its full commitment to handling all refereeing-related incidents and observations with complete transparency and objectivity, while ensuring factual verification before issuing any judgments or circulating inaccurate information."
The committee's statement concluded: "The Referees Committee calls upon all elements of the sports system, the media, and fans to support Egyptian refereeing and to avoid following unverified rumors and news, as such actions negatively impact the Egyptian football system."
Al-Ahly secured victory against ZED with two clean goals in the second week of the league competition.
Al-Ahly currently shares the top position in the league equally with Pyramids, Tala'ea El Gaish, and Al-Masry, each having 6 points.
Meanwhile, ZED occupies 16th place with only one point from a draw and a loss.
