Inside the heated meeting between the Egyptian premier league and Zamalek over match refusal
Ahmed Shobier, former Al Ahly and Egypt national team goalkeeper, has unveiled the intense discussions that took place between the Egyptian Premier League Association and Zamalek officials regarding the club’s refusal to play matches, including the highly anticipated game against Al Ahly.
In a recent radio interview, Shobier shared, “There was a very important meeting between the officials of the Premier League Association, led by Deputy Diab, and Zamalek representatives Hussein Labeeb, Hisham Nasr, and Hossam El Mandouh.
The focus was on resolving the issue of Zamalek’s refusal to play against Al Ahly and other league matches.”
He continued, “Zamalek has refused to participate in any league matches, starting with the Al Ahly game, until all pending matches of their competitors are played according to the previously set league schedule.
Zamalek officials have made it clear that they will not back down from their decision to play all their matches in the league only after the schedule is followed as initially announced.”
Shobier further revealed, “During the meeting, Deputy Ahmed Diab apologized to Zamalek officials for the remarks made by Deputy Tharwat Swelim, a member of the Premier League Association.
Zamalek also raised complaints about refereeing errors and demanded reforms and improvements in the refereeing system.”
Adding to the controversy, Shobier recalled, “You might remember that Al Ahly had also complained about the refereeing system some time ago. The Football Association had already agreed to bring in foreign referees for the match between Al Ahly and Zamalek, and these referees are expected to arrive today.”
Concluding his insights, Shobier emphasized, “The Football Association should have acted earlier to address the issues within the refereeing system, especially given that many clubs have been complaining about refereeing mistakes for a long time.”
