Zamalek's technical staff, players and officials have all blamed Senegalese referee Malang Diedhiou for being the main reason behind Sunday's loss to DR Congo's Sanga Balende.

Zamalek failed to maintain their unbeaten run in the African Confederation Cup after slumping to a 1-0 away defeat by Sanga in a controversial match.

The Cairo giants were stunned by an early goal from Musema Ngowa, who scored what proved to be the winner after 13 minutes.

Zamalek piled on pressure after falling behind to level the score, only to have two goals from Ahmed Ali and Bassem Morsi disallowed by the referee, prompting protests from the Zamalek management.

Aggravating the situation after the match, Sanga supporters tried to attack the bus carrying Zamalek players but they reached the hotel safely.

"I am proud of my players despite the defeat. They fought until the last minute and didn't deserve that loss," Zamalek coach Jesualdo Ferreira said after the match.

"I have never seen such bad refereeing in my life," Zamalek's board member Rehab Abou Regeila told Nile Sports after the game, which was not televised.

The Zamalek official revealed that the club will file a complaint against the referee after "his bad performance handed the team an undeserved loss."

"After seeing the referee's faults, I realised after the game why the Congolese team refused to broadcast the match," added the Portuguese coach.

Zamalek duo Ahmed Ali and Bassem Morsi believe that the referee conspired in favour of the hosts.

"We have been subjected to obvious injustice. The referee disallowed two clear goals and we also had a deserved penalty," striker Bassem Morsi was quoted as saying by Zamalek's official website.

"The referee is one of the worst I have ever seen in my football career," striker Ahmed Ali commented.  

"It is obvious that the officiating crew had the intention to grant victory to the Congolese team," he added.

Zamalek will have to overturn the first-leg deficit when they host Sanga in the second leg on 7 June in Suez to reach the group stage of Africa's secondary club competition.

"I have confidence in my players to recover and win the return leg with more than two goals to complete our African campaign successfully," concluded coach Ferreira.

Zamalek, who are bidding for their first league title since 2004, are currently topping the Egyptian league table with 63 points, eight clear of third-placed archrivals Ahly.

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