Adel Akl, the arbitration expert, confirmed that Saturday’s matches in the 28th round witnessed controversial arbitration decisions and the influential appearance of VAR in crucial decisions during the events of the three matches.
The match between Zamalek and Ceramica was managed by first-class referee Tarek Magdy and ended with a 4-1 victory for the Whites.
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The VAR made an effective appearance according to the protocol when the referee announced a penalty kick in favor of Zamalek. The VAR called the referee to the review screen, to display an image confirming that there was an offside on Abdullah Al-Saeed, which affected the opponent in the build-up phase of the attack. Therefore, the referee resumed with an indirect free kick on Zamalek in a good intervention and wonderful cooperation between the referee and the VAR duo.
In the 55th minute, the referee issued the only yellow card in the match to Zamalek player Dunga, and was merciful to him, because it could have amounted to a direct expulsion.
The match between Al-Ittihad Alexandria and Al-Dakhiliya was managed by first-class referee Mohamed Al-Atbani and ended in a 1-1 draw.
The most prominent decision in the match was that the VAR and the second assistant deprived Al-Ittihad of Alexandria of a valid goal due to offside in the 8th minute of the match.
In the 51st minute of the match, the referee awarded a correct penalty kick in favor of Al-Ittihad of Alexandria, and the VAR confirmed the correctness of the decision. Then, Al-Dakhiliya scored the equalizer in the 67th minute, and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
The match between Al-Baladiya and Enppi ended in a goalless draw.
The first-class referee, Hamada Al-Qalawi, managed it, and he did not find it difficult to manage the easy match.