Thursday 16/April/2026 – 11:03 PM
The Egyptian Football Association announced that the refereeing team that managed the match between Tanta and Telecom Egypt in the professional league, led by Abdel Aziz Al-Sayed, was suspended from work following the events of the match.
Following the events of the Tanta and Telecom Egypt match
In an official statement, the Football Association stated that following the events that took place in the match between Tanta and Telecom Egypt, within the professional league on April 16, 2026, and after receiving the individual written reports from the aforementioned referees, the referee of the arena, Abdul Aziz Al-Sayyed, the first assistant, Walid Mamdouh, the second assistant, Shihab Rashid, and the fourth referee, Hossam Hassan, the committee decided to suspend them from their duties in all grades and competitions until further notice.
The Federation added in its statement: The incident was also referred to the competent authority for investigation to take the final decision in accordance with the regulations in force, and we affirm our commitment to transparency and strict application of the laws of the game, which are among the basic pillars of our arbitration work.
Cairo 24 had previously revealed that the referees’ committee decided to summon referee Abdel Aziz Al-Sayyed for investigation, to find out the details of what happened in the controversial game and the reasons for his reversal of his decision to award a penalty kick against the Tanta team.
The match between Tanta and Telecom Egypt witnessed a major refereeing crisis that began in the 42nd minute, after referee Abdel Aziz Al-Sayed awarded a penalty kick against Tanta, amid strong objections from the team players and the technical staff, who confirmed that the violation occurred outside the penalty area.
Events escalated after the Tanta players decided to leave the field and refused to continue the match in protest against the decision, which led to the match being stopped for several minutes, in a scene that sparked widespread controversy. During the pause, the fourth referee appeared reviewing the game via mobile phone.
After a review that lasted for several minutes, the match referee retracted his decision and canceled the penalty kick, awarding a free kick instead, before resuming the match and completing the remainder of the first half.
The new decision, in turn, raised an objection from the Telecom Egypt team, which expressed its dissatisfaction with the decision change, despite its subsequent success in scoring a goal from the free kick that was awarded instead of the penalty kick.
The match was moderated by a refereeing team consisting of Abdel Aziz Al-Sayed as referee, assisted by Walid Mamdouh and Shehab Rashid, while Hossam Hassan Mahmoud assumed the duties of the fourth referee.
