President of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) Samir Zaher has confirmed that there was no problem with using foreign referees to officiate Egyptian Premier League matches this season. Zaher said that at first he had rejected the idea, but it's become a must to avoid the protests and doubts when Egyptian referees officiate. His announcement comes after the protests of Enppi and Zamalek following the Al-Ahly-Enppi match on Thursday, which the Red Devils won 2-1. Enppi said the referee, Samir Othman, sided with Ahly because he had disallowed two valid Enppi goals. They were infuriated at having two goals disallowed for offside either side of the interval. Television replays showed that the assistant referees were mistaken in raising their flag on both occasions. Othman, meanwhile, in the Arabic-language Al-Gomhuria daily, said on Saturday that he was tricked by the linesmen into cancelling the goals. Zaher has agreed with the EFA's Refereeing Committee head Mohamed Hossam to punish any referee who makes mistakes on the pitch. Enppi said on Friday night the EFA should replay game against Ahly because the referee 'was biased against them'. The petroleum club, who lie in 11th place in the league table, believe they unfairly lost the game. "The referee was clearly biased against us," Enppi chairman Maged Nagati said in a statement on the club's official website. "We should have won because we scored two valid goals that were ruled out, but everyone is working to gift Ahly the title because of their huge popularity in the country. "We will do our best to gain the club's rights. The only solution would be replaying the game, but I don't think that will happen. Many clubs have suffered from biased refereeing this season and have not been compensated in the end," he added. Egyptian referees have been severely criticised this season after a number of controversial decisions in high-profile matches. Meanwhile, Hossam played down the incessant criticism of Egyptian referees in the wake of Ahly's win. "There is nothing wrong with the refereeing in Egypt," he told Modern privately owned Egyptian TV. "But everyone makes mistakes and that's true of football all around the world. Eight matches were played on Thursday and in only one of them was there any objection to the referee. "There were only two mistakes in Ahly's match with Enppi, and that's actually an acceptable rate. Most Egyptian teams complaint about the referees, which proves that these mistakes are all inadvertent. "When a referee makes a mistake, we take action. But we wouldn't gun him down for a slip-up," Hossam added angrily.
