Yasser Abdel Raouf, the former Egyptian referee, confirmed that Zamalek deserved two penalties during their meeting with Al Ahly, due to two challenges on their player Shikabala Banza, considering that the push in both cases was influential and warranted an offence being awarded.
Speaking on El Kora Ma3 Fayek on "MBC Masr 2", Abdel Raouf explained that the first incident came after the ball rebounded from a save, before it reached the flank and a cross was delivered. He pointed to Marwan Attia's hand on Shiko Banza's back as the Zamalek man tried to rise to meet the ball.
The push was slight, he said, but it upset the balance of the Zamalek player and stopped him jumping to compete for the ball. For Abdel Raouf, the criterion for awarding an offence isn't the force of the push alone but the extent of its effect on the play. He added that the video technology referee should have called the on-field referee over to review it, considering it a penalty not awarded to Zamalek.
Similar cases have cropped up repeatedly in the Egyptian league, he pointed out, citing an incident involving Ashraf Bencharki in the match between Al Ahly and El Sharkia Enppi in the first round, and another involving Mohamed Shehata. The referees' committee, he noted, said one of those cases was a penalty that went unawarded.
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Shiko Banza and Ashraf Dari: a second penalty?
On the second incident, which saw contact between Shiko Banza and Ashraf Dari, Abdel Raouf stressed the need to distinguish between the direction of the ball and the nature of the competition for it. The ball was coming from the striker's side, he explained, which gives the Zamalek player the right to move to the spot where it would drop and prepare to play it.
Shiko Banza was advancing towards the ball before Dari used his hand to stop him, the former referee pointed out. Replays from several angles showed the push continuing, which to him made clear that the Moroccan defender was trying to impede the Zamalek striker's movement rather than compete for the ball.
Abdel Raouf rejected the notion that Shiko Banza standing in front of the Al Ahly defender justified the challenge. The defender could have risen and tried to play the ball, he explained, instead of focusing on preventing his opponent from reaching it.
His verdict on the second incident was the same: a penalty for Zamalek. The White side, he confirmed, deserved two spot-kicks in the two incidents against Al Ahly.