Referee Ahmed Hamdy who officiated Ahly-Geish game in league opener (Photo: Ahram archive)
Egypt's senior football refereeing official has admitted to sub-standard performance on the part of some referees in the first round of the new season.
Essam Abdel-Fattah, head of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) Referees Committee made his comments during a radio show on Monday morning, citing Sunday's match between Ahly and Talae El-Geish.
"In general, the refereeing at the start of the league wasn't the best. But we will analyze the performance and we can punish those who made mistakes," he said.
The issue of refereeing mistakes emerged after league champions Ahly criticised referee Ahmed Hamdy after their league match against Talae El-Geish on Sunday. Ahly blamed Hamdy for their surprising 1-1 draw, which resulted from a disputed penalty.
"Ahmed Hamdy certainly wasn't good enough," Abdel-Fattah said. "Refereeing mistakes do happen, but when we make mistakes, we admit to it."
He asked clubs and fans to be supportive in the new season, especially as the EFA is going through a "rebuilding phase" of assigning new referees.
"Take it easy on referees. We are bringing in new blood, having assigned 10 new referees this season," he concluded.
The EFA has suspended the referee indefinitely on Monday.
Read Ahly coach Hossam El-Badry's comments on referee Ahmed Hamdy here.
(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at@AO_Sportsand on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
Short link: