Egyptian Basketball Federation to investigate Al Ahly officials and Amr Zahran incident

The Egyptian Basketball Federation will investigate the refereeing team from Al Ahly’s match against Al Qanah after officials failed to spot an incident involving Al Ahly player Amr Zahran during the Egyptian Linked League game.

A federation source told FilGoal.com that the officials would be questioned “for not seeing the incident on the court and failing to make a decision at the time”.

The source added that Zahran would also face an investigation by the federation.

Mohamed Fathy, vice-president of the Egyptian Basketball Federation, said the organisation would determine the appropriate punishment after reviewing the incident involving the Al Ahly player and an Al Qanah player.

“There are regulations set by the Basketball Federation covering any act committed by a player,” Fathy told MBC Masr 2. “The board of directors also has the right to take the appropriate decision in special cases through a vote.”

Fathy said the match officials had asked the Al Qanah player about what happened.

“He told them there was nothing and that the matter between him and Amr Zahran had ended,” he said. “They reconciled immediately.”

Zahran has been suspended pending an investigation into the circumstances of the incident. Fathy said the regulations provide for a two-match suspension and a fine of between 5,000 Egyptian pounds and 100,000 Egyptian pounds.

However, the federation board could choose to impose a punishment outside the standard regulations, with such a decision requiring a vote by all members.

“Amr Zahran is an international player and one of the main pillars of the Egypt national team,” Fathy said. “What he did is not acceptable, so his punishment should be somewhat more severe than that of another player.”

He added that this was Zahran’s second incident and that the punishment would therefore be doubled.

The punishment most likely to be imposed is understood to be a suspension of two or four matches, together with a fine of between 50,000 and 100,000 Egyptian pounds.

The board of the Egyptian Basketball Federation has referred Zahran, a member of Al Ahly’s senior men’s team, to an investigation following the incident during the second round of the Egyptian Linked League.

He is due to appear before the investigation committee on Wednesday to give his account before a decision is taken under the regulations governing the competition. The federation said the process was intended to ensure discipline while allowing all parties to be heard.

Al Ahly beat Al Qanah 82-62 in the second round of the Egyptian men’s Linked League.

The competition determines the first-round match-ups for the Basketball Super League, which qualifies teams for the Basketball Africa League (THE BAL), based on the final standings.

Sixteen teams are taking part: Al Ahly, Al Ittihad Alexandria, Telecom Egypt, Zamalek, Petrojet, Sporting, Smouha, Al Jazeera, Al Qanah, Tala’ea El Gaish, Heliopolis, Olympic, Ashab El Gead, El Shams, El Zohour and Damanhour Games.

The preliminary stage is played home and away. Teams receive two points for a win in the men’s or under-16 linked matches and one for a defeat. The four group winners advance directly to the quarter-finals, while the teams finishing second and third contest play-off matches for the remaining places.

Al Ahly are the defending champions after beating Al Ittihad Alexandria in the previous edition.