The Cairo derby between Ahly and Zamalek will be held on Friday as planned, the Egyptian Football Association competition committee has said late Monday. Several pundits and newspapers called on the competition committee to postpone the game after the ugly scenes that marred Zamalek's 1-1 Egyptian Premier League draw with Police Union on Wednesday last week. A free-for-all erupted following the final whistle, resulting in eight-match and three-match bans for Zamalek duo Hazem Emam and Alaa Ali respectively. Zamalek's football director Ibrahim Hassan was banned from attending the team's matches until the end of the season, so was Police Union assistant coach Mohamed Ibrahim. Ahead of the derby, Zamalek officials and fans have consistently accused the Egyptian Football Association of favouring arch-rivals Al-Ahly. Despite the growing tensions, the competition committee have insisted the showdown will be held as planned. "We have no intention of postponing the game. All the reports which suggested such a possibility are totally untrue," the committee's chief Amer Barakat told FilGoal.com. "Our schedule is very tight; we are doing our best to finish the domestic competitions before the World Cup. We cannot afford to postpone a game without cause." Defending champions Ahly are close to winning a sixth consecutive league title. They have a six-point advantage over Zamalek, who have played a game more, with five matches remaining.