Egyptian referee suspended for disallowing goal through mobile replay

An Egyptian referee Mohamed Farouk has been suspended indefinitely for disallowing a goal after watching a replay on a spectator’s mobile phone.

The Egyptian Football Association on Wednesday announced that Farouk had been suspended for the incident that happened when he officiated a tie between Al Nasr and Suez.

With no Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in the Egypt second tier, Farouk was forced to cross the Rubicon ‘to get his decision right’.

The hosts, Suez, had argued that an Al Nasr goal could not stand because the scorer had used his hand.

Farouk grabbed a fan’s phone to watch a goal replay in the heat of the moment.

After a second look at the goal on the fan’s mobile device 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 FA statement, the head of the Referees Committee, Vitor Pereira, slapped Farouk and his assistants with suspension for an "indefinite period."

"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," the Egyptian FA said.

At the end of the game, 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. Al Nasr officials have since threatened to take legal action against the referee as his action violated the regulations.

As things stand, Morocco and Egypt are the two African countries that have implemented VAR in their respective Premier Divisions.

However, the lower leagues in Egypt have yet to use the technology.

In addition, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) also introduced the Video Assistant Referee at Afcon and Champions League.