Football Association responds to Zamalek regarding VAR recordings

Media figure Hani Hathout clarified that the Egyptian Football Association has rejected Zamalek's request to access the video assistant referee recordings related to the summit match against Al Ahly. The association confirmed that these recordings are subject to complete confidentiality in accordance with the instructions of the International Football Association, expressing its full confidence in Egyptian refereeing and the internal review of decisions through the referees' committee.

Hani Hathout explained during his program "Modern Sports" that Zamalek's management received the official response from the Football Association after the deadline set by the club, which was 48 hours, to respond to their requests regarding the controversial refereeing cases in the match.

Hathtout pointed out that this response has caused discontent within the Zamalek management, especially with the Football Association's insistence on preventing the club from hearing the discussions of the refereeing team and the Video Assistant Referee, in two incidents where the white team demanded two penalty kicks without a response from the on-field referee.

The media added that the letter included clarifications regarding the reasons for appointing the Slovenian referee to officiate the summit match, given that several referees are tied to officiating European matches, along with the apologies from more than one football federation for not sending a refereeing crew to manage the encounter. These are the reasons that Essam Abdel Fattah, the head of the referees committee, had previously discussed.

The referees' committee defended its position by confirming complete agreement between the on-field referee and the VAR room in all decisions made, which means, from the committee's perspective, that all officiating procedures witnessed during the match were correct and sound.

Hathtout pointed out that there is a sense of dissatisfaction within the Football Association due to Zamalek setting a time limit for responding to its letter, as some officials believe that clubs cannot impose specific deadlines on the association to respond to their requests.

It was clarified that this point was not included in the official letter sent to Zamalek, despite being a topic of discussion within the corridors of the federation.