“Official complaint”: Smouha launches a fierce attack on the referees of their match against Al Ahly

Smouha Club has officially complained to the Egyptian Football Association, citing controversial refereeing in its Egyptian Premier League match against Al Ahly.

Al Ahly edged out a 2-1 win in the second round of the Premier League play-offs.

The dispute centres on a first-half challenge between Al Ahly’s Imam Ashour and Smouha’s Samuel Amadi, for which Smouha wanted a penalty. Referee Mahmoud Nagi, after conferring with video assistant referee Wael Farhan, decided to let play continue.

In its official protest, Smouha stated: “We are writing to you regarding the events of the match between Smouha and Al Ahly, which took place at Cairo Stadium in the second week of the final stage of the Premier League.”

It added: “The match officials, led by referee Mahmoud Nagi and assisted by VAR referee Wael Farhan, directly influenced the result.”

“The officials’ refusal to award a clear and valid penalty in favour of Smouha—following a foul on our striker inside Al Ahly’s penalty area—directly influenced the result.”

“The referee ignored the clear evidence, and despite the technology at his disposal, the VAR official chose not to intervene, even though every refereeing expert agreed that Smouha should have had a penalty.”

The club stated that such decisions amount to clear bias against Smouha and favouritism towards its rivals.

“We trust in the integrity of Egyptian refereeing and the Egyptian Football Association,” the letter continued, “but repeated incidents like this erode that trust and leave us feeling aggrieved.”

Such errors, he added, undermine the work of coaches, players and clubs who invest heavily to present Egyptian football in a positive light, only to see their efforts undermined by poor officiating.

In its statement, the Alexandria-based club concluded: “We therefore demand that solutions be found, as there have been numerous complaints from most clubs regarding unfair refereeing decisions.”

He emphasised: “Smouha Club urges the Referees’ Committee to sanction referees who make mistakes, in order to protect the rights of clubs that are being undermined by refereeing errors which directly affect the result of the match.”

He then stated: “We hereby request that no Smouha match be entrusted to referees Mahmoud Nagi or Wael Farhan for the remainder of the 2025/2026 league season, given their repeated officiating errors in previous games, whether as centre referee, fourth official or VAR.”

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