Vitor Pereira, head of the Referees Committee at the Egyptian Football Association, affirmed that he has fulfilled all the tasks requested of him by the association upon his appointment, highlighting significant advancements in the Egyptian refereeing standards.
He also confirmed that the final of the Egyptian Cup between Al Ahly and Zamalek will be officiated by an Egyptian referee, without disclosing the identity.
Speaking via a Zoom call with presenter Hani Hathout on the “Al-Match” program on “Sada El Balad” channel, Pereira stated, “The performance of Egyptian referees in the African championship was outstanding, matching the overall level of refereeing standards, and CAF has significantly progressed in the field of refereeing.”
Pereira added, “The level displayed by the seven Egyptian referees in all matches, whether in the opening match, semi-finals, or quarter-finals, especially their persistence throughout the tournament, showcased their immense potential, encouraging them to work diligently to enhance Egyptian refereeing from the grassroots to the pinnacle.”
“We must understand two things in the African Cup; we only see FIFA referees, the best referees, best assistants, and best VAR referees from each country.
When we analyze refereeing in general in our Egyptian league, we have seven FIFA referees who are the best. We have 25 other referees, and the more the number of referees, the lower the efficiency.
It’s like the national team; you can’t have 50 referees with this number,” Pereira explained.
He continued, “What I can say is that this season in the league, we had around 100 matches, and the performance level was extremely good.
There were one or two matches with wrong decisions, which is an acceptable figure.
We are happy with the referees’ performance so far, and we must continue to work hard to improve.”
Responding to accusations of only performing administrative work, Pereira said, “Am I only doing administrative work? Who said that? I attend all training sessions, tests, and provide information. If they say this, I have no comment on it.”
Regarding sending a thank-you letter to Mahmoud Ashour, Pereira clarified, “My letter to Mahmoud Ashour? I sent letters to 7 referees, not just Ashour.
From my point of view, it was to thank them for their performance, and personally, to Captain Ashour for his refereeing in many matches, especially in the final.”
Pereira addressed allegations that some Egyptian referees spend large amounts of state money on foreign referees and experts without real benefit, saying, “I have a good relationship with all referees.
As for the interpretation of these statements, you should ask them, not me. I don’t know the context in which these words were said, and I cannot explain them.”
He concluded, “My contract continues until the end of this season. I am doing my job, and we are doing our best.
The Football Association asked me for three things: to organize refereeing administratively, to develop and educate refereeing from the grassroots to the top, and to increase the number of referees in top-level competitions.”
