An Egyptian referee, Mohamed Farouk has been suspended indefinitely by the Egyptian Football Association in a second division match after using a spectator’s mobile phone to check the footage before disallowing a goal.
The incident took place during a second-tier match between Suez and Al Nasr where referee Mohamed Farouk used the phone of a crowd member to watch a replay of a goal during the match due to absence of the video assistant referee (VAR) system.
The hosts Suez were leading the game 2-1 up into the final few minutes before Al Nasr scored a late equaliser from a bundled header off an in-swinging free-kick.
However the host supporters protested vehemently to a handball leading to the goal with the home fans entering the pitch in anger.
The members of both teams then rounded the referee and that left him with no option than to check the fan’s phone in the absence of VAR.
After a while, reviewing the video on the phone, the referee decided to rule the goal out.
Vitor Pereira, who recently replaced former veteran Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg as the head of the Referees Committee in Egypt said in a statement released afterwards that the entire refereeing staff for the match will be suspended for an indefinite period.
The Egyptian FA also corroborated that “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.”
After the whole melee, Fifteen minutes of stoppage time was added and Suez eventually won the game 3-1.
However, Referee Farouk had to leave the pitch under police protection, amid protests from Al Nasr players and officials, who threatened to take legal action against the referee for violating the regulations.
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