Video: "Bullying and refereeing corruption"... Al Ahly launches a scathing attack on the referee of the Ceramica Cleopatra match

Al-Ahly were held to a draw by Ceramica

Referee Mahmoud Wafa came under fierce criticism from Al Ahly following Tuesday’s Egyptian Premier League match against Ceramica Cleopatra.

In stoppage time, there was significant controversy over a refereeing decision after Al Ahly claimed a penalty following a handball by a Ceramica player. Video technology was called upon, and referee Mahmoud Wafa reviewed the incident and confirmed that no penalty had been committed.

The decision sparked a wave of anger, and Al Ahly players, the coaching staff and board member Sayed Abdel Hafiz strongly protested against the referee after the final whistle.

Instructions for disabling Al-Ahly
Osama Hosni, a former Al Ahly player and current commentator for the club’s TV channel, attacked Mahmoud Wafa, insisting that he was responsible for the team’s draw.
Osama said on Al Ahly TV: “I wonder where the referee got his instructions from to hold Al Ahly back, and in whose favour? You want to steer the league towards another team.”
He added: “Is this what competition looks like in Egypt? Is this what football is in Egypt? A refereeing scandal in full view of the whole world, a refereeing scandal befitting the ‘brothers’ and ‘bigwigs’ who run football in Egypt.”
He continued: “A referee from the Kafr El-Sheikh region; they’ve drawn a million lines under it. I won’t say who appoints the referees for Al-Ahly’s matches, or who wants to hinder Al-Ahly.”

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"Judicial corruption and bullying"
The Al-Ahly TV presenter continued: “Mahmoud Ashour is one of the top-ranked referees in the FIFA rankings. He was monitoring the video assistant referee system, reviewed the incident, consulted the match referee, and replayed the footage from multiple angles, concluding that the player’s hand extended beyond his body.”
He continued: “The player moved his hand outwards and it was a penalty, but the referee had instructions from before the match.”
He added: “We are at a crucial stage in the league championship, and by God, what is happening is shameful; sport in Egypt has become like the corruption we unfortunately see in everything.”
He concluded: “This scene reflects a state of refereeing corruption, and what we are witnessing in refereeing is thuggery that affects the fairness of the competition.”
"Al-Ahly will not allow its rights to be trampled on again"
For his part, Sayed Abdel Hafiz, a member of Al Ahly’s board of directors, criticised the refereeing during the match against Ceramica Cleopatra.
Abdel Hafiz said in televised comments that Al Ahly is currently working on a major restructuring befitting its name, but is going through a delicate phase that requires caution and focus, stressing that such situations have been repeated in previous seasons, which is unacceptable.
He added that referee Mahmoud Wafa appeared to be looking for a justification for not awarding the penalty, stressing that Al Ahly will not allow its rights to be violated again, even in the face of internal errors that need to be reviewed.
He explained that the club’s management would submit an official request to the Football Association to ascertain the details of the dialogue between the on-field referee and the VAR team, as well as the criteria on which the selection of the refereeing team was based.
Abdel Hafiz noted that he was certain the penalty for Al Ahly would not be awarded, adding that he sensed this immediately upon the referee’s return from the VAR, particularly after he had been preoccupied with making decisions against members of the Ceramica squad, which he considered an indication of the decision’s direction.
He questioned the logic behind appointing the same referee to officiate both the first and second-leg matches between the two sides, calling on the Egyptian Football Association to launch an investigation into this matter, as well as into the incident where the referee pushed some players on the pitch.
He concluded by stating that Al Ahly would continue to uphold its values, noting that loyalty to the club is based on sacrifice and teamwork, amidst the ongoing pursuit of trophies.
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