The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has confirmed the appointment of a foreign refereeing team to officiate the final of the Egypt Cup between Al Ahly and Zamalek.
Speaking on television, EFA board member Ihab El-Komy stated, “We had previously announced that the referees for the cup final would be Egyptian, but we received objections on social media after speculation about the identity of the refereeing team.”
“We decided to alleviate the pressure on Egyptian referees by opting to appoint a foreign refereeing team,” he added.
El-Komy emphasized the association’s trust in Egyptian referees but explained the decision to appoint foreign referees was to relieve any undue pressure on the local referees.
“FIFA’s chief referee, Victor Pereira, initially wanted an Egyptian refereeing team for the cup final but eventually understood the situation and agreed to the appointment of a foreign team,” El-Komy said.
He further elaborated, “The organizing committee for the Egypt Cup final will bear the expenses of the foreign refereeing team.
We have approached refereeing teams from Europe and Latin America and await their response in the coming days.”
El-Komy concluded by addressing previous suggestions to have a mixed team of foreign and Egyptian referees, stating, “There was a proposal to assign the match to a mixed team, but Victor Pereira rejected the idea of having Egyptians involved if foreign referees were present.”
