Poor Refereeing: Zamalek abandons Egyptian league
Following the club’s 3-2 loss to El-Gaish on Sunday evening, the management of Zamalek Football Club of Egypt have quit the current Premier League season.
The club’s board decided not to complete the league season at a meeting after the match.
They are due to meet again Monday to further discuss the matter.
In the build up to the game, Zamalek had requested for Mahmoud Al Banna to be replaced as the referee for the match, but the Egyptian Football Association refused it.
“Al Banna sent off Zamalek defender Ali Gabr after just four minutes and awarded El-Gaish the first of two penalties, the second came 10 minutes into the second half,” the BBC reports.
Zamalek’s board released the following statement on the club’s website after the meeting.
Council Zamalek management, led by Chancellor Murtaza Mansour decided not to complete the Egyptian Premier League due to the arbitrary decisions of arbitration against the team in the game vanguard of the army.
Council Zamalek administration’s decision came because of arbitral awards unjust in the game by the referee Mahmoud al-Banna, who objected to by the Council before the game but he was insisting on his appointment to manage the meeting, and there seems to be a goal in order to obstruct the march of Zamalek in the game after a rival received a defeat in the last game.
Defending the standard of officiating in the league, the Egyptian FA says it has not received any official communication from Zamalek.
According to the league’s regulations, Zamalek risk being relegated to the fourth tier of Egyptian league if they follow through on their decision..
