Egyptian Football Association referees committee chairman Essam Abdel Fattah has defended the efforts to appoint a high-level foreign officiating team for the 133rd Cairo derby between Al-Ahly and Zamalek, saying scheduling conflicts with European Champions League matches made it difficult to secure the preferred officials.
Abdel Fattah’s comments come amid renewed controversy over refereeing decisions in the derby, which Al-Ahly won 2-0, with Zamalek lodging an official complaint over incidents involving their forward Chico Banza.
Speaking in a radio interview, Abdel Fattah said the committee had made efforts to bring in a top-level foreign team but was unable to find suitable referees because of Champions League commitments.
“We did everything possible to bring in a high-level refereeing team to manage the derby, but we couldn’t find one because they have the Champions League tomorrow and the day after,” he said.
The referees’ committee chairman also cautioned against placing foreign officials beyond criticism, arguing that mistakes are part of football officiating regardless of nationality.
“Refereeing all over the world makes mistakes, and neither Egyptian nor foreign referees are angels,” Abdel Fattah said, adding that video technology had brought refereeing standards closer together, although interpretations can differ between countries.
Zamalek’s complaint centres on two incidents in which the club believes penalties should have been awarded to Banza. The decisions have fuelled debate following the defeat to their Cairo rivals.
Abdel Fattah said his priority was to ensure fairness for all clubs but expressed reservations about analysing the performance of foreign referees publicly.
“I am generally against foreign refereeing, and against analysing the foreign refereeing team because it will not be useful,” he said.
He added that the committee would first consider the matter internally before deciding whether the derby should be included among the controversial matches selected for further review.
