The entire board of Egypt’s Referees Committee was dismissed last week following a leaked recording which appeared to show that a referee was not inclined to award a late penalty in a domestic league fixture, seemingly playing favourites.

The incident, which has caused an uproar in Egyptian football, started during a league match between Zamalek and the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) on Friday 1 November in Salam Stadium in Cairo.

With the game headed for a 2-2 draw deep into extra time, Zamalek was awarded a penalty for a handball in the area.

Midfielder Abdullah Said smashed the spot kick to the right of goal. And that should have been that. Zamalek 3 NBE 2.

But what followed was just the start of anything but the usual.

Following the match, TV channel MBC Masr released an audio recording of the conversation, purportedly leaked, between the referee and a VAR official during the review of the last-minute handball penalty.

In the recording, the VAR man, Mido Salama, is heard alerting referee Mohamed Adel of a possible NBE handball in the penalty area.

In reply, Adel was heard telling Salama “damn you,” the insinuation being that he did not think it was a handball.

What Adel and Salama were debating was a 95th minute challenge in the NBE penalty area between Zamalek’s Nasser Mansi and NBE defender Sayed “Neymar” Abdullah. As Mansi was breathing down Neymar’s neck, the ball fell to the turf and bounced back up, brushing Neymar’s hand.  

After a VAR review, Adel pointed to the spot but not before his conversation with Salama was captured in the recording:

Salama: I see a potential handball on the NBE player.”

Adel: I just want to see the play.

Salama: Here, I’m showing you the play.

Adel: Rewind it, Mido.

Salama: Have you seen the play?

Adel: Rewind it again, Mido.

Salama: Okay, three frames back.

Adel: I want to see it at normal speed.

Salama to an assistant VAR official: Play it at normal speed.

Adel: “Damn you Mido, the ball’s coming from the ground and hitting his arm!”

Salama: I’ll show you the close angle.”

Adel: It’s really tough, Mido.

Adel eventually awarded the penalty but things were to get much tougher for him and his bosses.

Six days later, at an emergency meeting, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) dismissed the Referees Committee, saying it had launched a full investigation into the incident and would present its findings at an upcoming board meeting.

The Egyptian Football Association has decided to sack the Referees Committee board, the EFA statement said. Due to recent events surrounding the refereeing situation in Egyptian football and the leaked VAR audio from the Zamalek vs. Bank Al-Ahly match, the Egyptian Football Association has decided to conduct a thorough investigation. Findings will be discussed at an emergency board meeting scheduled for Thursday.”

The board had been headed by Mohamed Farouk and Ibrahim Noureddine. The new committee will be led by Yasser Abdel-Raouf, with Tawfik Al-Sayed, Tamer Derri and Azab Haggag as members, the EFA said.

Adel has since defended himself, claiming the audio recording was an “AI-generated fake”. He also said he had filed a complaint with the prosecution. According to media reports, Adel had been questioned.

Adel’s lawyer Ahmed Al-Adawi seconded that the VAR recording was in fact fraudulent.

In a TV interview, Al-Adawi said he had slapped lawsuits against the show that broadcast the recording and the show’s presenter. He also said a report had been filed against the company responsible for the VAR.

“They fabricated a recording attributed to Mohamed Adel,” Al-Adawi said.

“There is a correct part in the recording which is calling Mohamed Adel to review the play but the remainder of it is manufactured. Even if the recording is correct, the new telecommunications law prohibits its broadcasting without consent.

“We will wait until the end of the investigation because we do not want to wrong anyone. We hope the EFA punishes whoever is responsible.”

Zamalek supporters are not buying what Al-Adawi, in their view, is trying to sell. They are not shying away from their conclusion that Adel did not want their club to win and sought to keep the team to at most a one-point draw. They based their findings mainly on the two penalties that were awarded to NBE from which they scored their brace. Those penalty calls, the supporters clamour, were dubious at best.

But the conspiracy charge does not hold up to scrutiny. Adel, 46, has been an Egyptian Premier League referee since 2013 and a FIFA referee since 2018. Though he has made his share of bloopers over the years, like any other referee here and abroad, his integrity has never been called into question, at least not by the officials concerned.

There is also the season to consider; it’s still in its infancy. This was Zamalek’s first match. It’s highly doubtful that a referee would want to rig the results of a game when the season is just starting. 

Most mysterious of all, if Adel was so hesitant about not giving Zamalek the penalty, he could have easily overruled the VAR. Referees have the final say. VAR is just there to help.

In Adel’s favour, there was also a moment just before the fateful handball by Neymar that could have kept the score a tie. In his attempt to strip the ball from Neymar, Mansi clattered into him, felling the defender before the ball struck his hand. Although the contact was not serious, a referee with crooked thoughts could have called it a foul and, hence, no penalty. However, Adel made the call, and replays looked like it was the right one: handball first, then the fall. 

As we await for the investigation to conclude, big questions remain: who leaked the tape, and why, and was it really doctored? MBC should have known the answers to all three, because if it did, it might not have broadcast the recording in the first place.

League giants and Zamalek’s crosstown rivals Ahly, supported by several other clubs, called in a statement on Friday for the appointment of a foreign head for the Referees Committee “to provide a healthy atmosphere that will help the foreign expert succeed and ensure fair play among all competing clubs”.

The Egyptian Clubs Association has reportedly also urged the EFA to replace the current committee with a foreign head of referees.

The EFA has hired two foreigners to lead the Referees Committee in recent years, though neither appointment had much impact.

Renowned English referee Mark Clattenburg was appointed as head of the Referees Committee in August 2022 to streamline operations and improve the perception of Egyptian refereeing. However, Clattenburg resigned after just five months, saying he feared for his life after a heated dispute with then-Zamalek president Mortada Mansour.

In March 2023, veteran Portuguese referee Vitor Pereira took over the committee, with a tenure set to end after the 2023/2024 season. However, Pereira, too, left, reportedly failing to improve the situation on the ground.

Whether an Egyptian head of referees or made elsewhere, the old adage that the best referee is one who goes about his work largely unnoticed, is thrown out the window in these parts.

Accusing referees of putting their thumb on the sale is nothing new in Egyptian football. For decades, the whistleblowers have been plastered by fans, with the accusation that their decision-making is tainted, front and centre. They always take sides, the allegation goes, favouring the clubs with millions of followers, like Zamalek, over teams like NBE whose fans are probably no more than the bank’s employees.

Adjudicating football games in Egypt is a rough business. It looks like it’s about to get much rougher.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 14 November, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly