Egypt referees committee seeks European officials for Al Ahly-Zamalek derby

The Egyptian Football Association’s referees committee has written to several leading European countries to request foreign officials for the Egyptian Premier League match between Al Ahly and Zamalek, chairman Essam Abdel Fattah has said.

Abdel Fattah confirmed that letters had been sent to England, Italy, Germany and Portugal as the committee looks to appoint referees for the eagerly anticipated derby.

“We sent letters to the major European countries, such as England, Italy, Germany and Portugal, to bring referees in to officiate the derby match,” Abdel Fattah said on MBC Masr.

Al Ahly had previously requested foreign referees for their matches against Zamalek and Pyramids.

Abdel Fattah also defended the standard of refereeing in the Egyptian top flight and said the committee wanted to restore confidence in domestic officials.

“We want to restore confidence in the Egyptian referee. We have no problem with constructive criticism, but there is hostility towards refereeing,” he said.

“During five rounds, refereeing may have changed the result of one match, which is an excellent figure.”

He acknowledged that mistakes were an unavoidable part of football, pointing to an incident from the English Premier League as an example.

“We saw the Manchester City against Manchester United match in the English league, where a goal was awarded despite an obvious foul,” he said.

“Mistakes will always happen because referees are human. We need to take a closer look at ourselves in refereeing, because there are manufactured crises.”

Asked how officials are selected for matches, Abdel Fattah said the process involved discussion within the referees committee before final decisions were made.

“A proposal is put forward and discussed by the referees committee, and we settle on the final selections,” he said.

“There are criteria for choosing referees, including their performance during the preparation camp, their physical condition and their psychological readiness. The referee who works hard and maintains his level is the one who continues.”

Al Ahly are due to face Zamalek in the sixth round of the Egyptian Premier League on Sunday 11 October. They will then meet Pyramids in the ninth round on 23 November.

Zamalek and Al Ahly occupy second and third place respectively in the league table, both with 13 points. They are behind leaders Pyramids.