A major setback for Al Ahly: the VAR recording hearing has been scrapped, and director of football Abdel Hafiz has issued a warning

Al-Ahly’s delegation, led by board member Sayed Abdel-Hafiz, departed the Egyptian Football Association headquarters after the scheduled hearing on the referees’ communications during the Ceramica Cleopatra match was canceled.

The session, intended to review referees’ communication during the match, was called off because “the legally authorised persons were not present”.

The delegation—led by Abdel Hafiz and including media director Jamal Gabr, an audio specialist and a former refereeing expert—was already present when the Federation stated that the session could not proceed.

Al-Ahly had earlier sent a letter to EFA Secretary-General Mustafa Azzam, asserting its right to choose whoever it deemed suitable to attend the hearing on referee communications from the Ceramica Cleopatra match.

In a prior letter, the Federation’s Secretary-General had stated that “listening to the VAR recordings is restricted to only two members of the technical and administrative staff associated with the match, provided they are authorised to be present in the technical area, and no one else”.

Al-Ahly remains confident it can protect its interests.

After leaving the EFA headquarters, Abdel Hafiz criticised the decision to bar his attendance, stressing his rejection of the outcome.

“Al Ahly knows exactly how to protect its rights and has the inherent right to choose its representative,” he stated.

“I came to the FA because barring me from attending with a proxy is illegal; no regulation forbids it. What if the technical and administrative staff had been dismissed before the meeting? It is only natural for Al Ahly’s board of directors to attend,” he added.

Al-Ahly had drawn 1-1 with Ceramica Cleopatra in the first round of the Egyptian Premier League play-offs, a match in which a late penalty claim was overruled after a VAR review.

In a subsequent statement, the club demanded access to the referee-VAR audio, citing comments by Referees’ Committee head Oscar Ruiz that every club is entitled to hear the recordings after paying the required fee. Al Ahly stressed that full disclosure is essential for fairness and transparency.

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