Al Ahly criticise Egyptian FA over Essam Abdel-Fattah referees appointment

Al Ahly have written to the Egyptian Football Association to protest against the appointment of Essam Abdel-Fattah as chairman of its referees committee, saying the decision and other recent choices by the governing body “do not inspire optimism or cooperation”.

The Egyptian Football Association announced Abdel-Fattah’s appointment ahead of the 2026-27 season.

In their letter, Al Ahly said they had expected the implementation of a plan to develop Egyptian football, previously announced by the Minister of Youth and Sports alongside the Football Association several weeks ago. The club said the plan should have built on the “good level” shown by the national team at the most recent World Cup.

Instead, Al Ahly said, they had been surprised by decisions that offered little encouragement for the future and risked creating further tension within Egyptian football.

The club objected in particular to the decision to place Abdel-Fattah back in charge of the referees committee. Al Ahly said he had previously held the role but had failed to provide fairness to most clubs, “foremost among them Al Ahly”.

The club also criticised terms it said had been used during his earlier tenure, including “containment” and “the spirit of protocol”. Al Ahly said those comments had led it to tell the public that the referees committee had lost its credibility and integrity.

At that time, the club decided to complete the league competition with youth players and footballers returning from injury, while also refusing to take part in the cup competition.

Al Ahly’s letter also accused the Football Association of an open breach of regulations. The club claimed that people who had not paid money owed to state institutions were still receiving the necessary approvals, while the association’s president publicly presented one such individual with a badge of distinction as the biggest payer and described his contracts as valid.

The club said this had been done “as if the contracts of the other clubs were not valid” and argued that the association had overlooked internationally recognised rights to separate sporting performance contracts from commercial rights agreements.

Al Ahly further referred to a proposal made by the association’s president to CAF to increase the number of clubs taking part in the Champions League. According to the club, the proposal was rejected, but the response was kept confidential for a week without justification.

The club suggested the delay may have been connected to waiting for the clubs that would receive African licences to be identified.

Criticism of VAR and refereeing comments

Al Ahly described recent comments by the VAR official involved in last season’s final phase match between Ceramica and Al Ahly, as well as remarks by a member of the referees committee, as “catastrophic”.

The club said the comments represented a “black mark” against the Egyptian refereeing system.

It claimed the VAR official had exposed unjustified stubbornness from the match referee, who failed to award Al Ahly a correct penalty. Al Ahly added that the committee member had backed that assessment and clearly referred to an issue the club had repeatedly warned about: the alleged involvement of a person from outside the Football Association in the work of the referees committee.

Al Ahly concluded that the Football Association’s statements, decisions and appointments “do not inspire optimism or cooperation” and said the governing body must accept responsibility.

The club said all parties had been waiting for measures that would serve the interests of every team, noting that the clubs had played a major role in producing and developing players who helped the national team at the World Cup.

Al Ahly ended its letter by expressing the hope that matters would be put right “in the service of Egyptian football”.