Mohamed Farouk was officiating the match between Al Nasr and Suez when he disallowed a goal after watching a replay on a fan’s phone.
An Egyptian football referee has been suspended indefinitely after using a spectator’s mobile phone to disallow a goal during a second-tier match in the country.
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Mohamed Farouk was officiating the match between Al Nasr and Suez when he disallowed a goal after watching a replay on a fan’s phone.
With no Video Assistant Referee (VAR) available in the Egypt second tier, Farouk was forced to take the decision into his own hands.
The hosts, Suez, had argued that the Al Nasr goal was invalid because the scorer had used his hand. In a moment of desperation, Farouk grabbed a fan’s phone to watch a goal replay.
After a second look at the goal on the phone on the touchline, Farouk overturned the goal decision.
Suez went on to win the match 3-1 after the referee added 15 minutes of stoppage time.
According to an Egypt Football Association statement, the head of the Referees Committee, Vitor Pereira, has suspended Farouk and his assistants for an “indefinite period.”
The statement read: “The Committee decided to investigate the incident when Mohamed Farouk, the referee of the match, used a mobile phone to review one of the footage of the match’s events.”
At the end of the match, with the visiting team’s fans baying for his blood, Farouk and the rest of the match officials had to be escorted down the tunnel by police.
Al Nasr fans and players were furious at him for disallowing the goal, and the club officials have threatened to take legal action against the referee for violating the regulations.
Egypt’s Premier Division is among the two African countries that have implemented VAR, but the lower leagues in Egypt are yet to use the technology.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has also introduced the Video Assistant Referee at AFCON and Champions League.
