Egypt referees face ‘reward and punishment’ system under Essam Abdel-Fattah

Egyptian referees who make mistakes will be held accountable under a new “reward and punishment” system introduced by Egyptian Football Association Referees Committee chairman Essam Abdel-Fattah.

The international referees and Premier League officials’ preparation camp ended on Monday, with 42 referees taking part ahead of the 2026-27 season.

“I will apply the principle of reward and punishment to referees. Whoever makes a mistake will be held accountable, while outstanding officials will be praised,” Abdel-Fattah told the Egyptian Football Association’s official website.

“We are working to raise the technical, physical and cultural level of referees while applying clear criteria in the assessment process.”

He added: “Discipline will be a fundamental pillar of the work.”

A new camp for referees and assistant referees from the Professional League and Premier League B will begin on Tuesday.

The committee is seeking to increase the number of referees ready to officiate matches across the different divisions, according to the Egyptian Football Association.

The new league season is scheduled to begin on 21 August.

Abdel-Fattah is serving as chairman of the Egyptian Referees Committee this season. The committee also includes former referee Gamal El-Ghandour and Samir Osman as vice-chairmen, with Ahmed Wagih and Mahmoud Ashour appointed as members.

The committee’s wider development programme will divide responsibilities among a number of experienced officials.

Mohamed El-Sabahi will work alongside Mahmoud Ashour on the development of referees involved in video assistant referee operations.

Mahmoud El-Banna, Mohamed El-Hanafi and Mohamed Youssef will be responsible for working with referees to improve their performance.

Ayman Deish and Hany Abdel-Fattah will focus on assistant referees.

All of the development work will be supervised by Gamal El-Ghandour.

Abdel-Fattah’s announcement places performance assessment, discipline and referee development at the centre of the committee’s preparations for the forthcoming campaign. The stated aim is to establish clear standards for reviewing officials while rewarding those who perform well and addressing mistakes through accountability.