Essam Abdel Fattah: Incident with Mohamed Maarouf and Wael Gomaa Never Happened

Essam Abdel Fattah, head of the referees committee, confirmed that referee Mohamed Marouf, who officiated the Al Ahly vs ZED match in the league, denied the rumors regarding Al Ahly's player Ali Mahmoud, which had been circulated through the media.

Abdel Fattah stated in an interview with Karim Ramzy on Mega FM: "I have already spoken with Mohamed Ma'arouf about whether there was indeed a discussion regarding Ali Mahmoud with Wael Gomaa, the football director at Al Ahly, during the Z match."

He added: "Mohamed Maarouf completely denied what has been circulated and confirmed that this never happened at all, and everything is recorded in audio and video, and we have nothing to hide."

He continued: "Any referee who makes a mistake will be punished retroactively, and we are suffering from external wars, while some are trying to take advantage of the errors."

Kareem Hassan Shahat has sparked controversy with strong statements, asserting that he has information regarding a conversation between Wael Gomaa and Mohamed Maarouf during the Al Ahly vs. Z match. He alleged that the referee told the director of football: "Get Mahmoud out, because I can't protect him anymore."