Egypt lodge protest over alleged “video
evidence”
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A furious Egypt have lodged an official protest against
Brazil’s winning penalty at the end of a thrilling 4-3
Confederations Cup match.
Referee Howard Webb and his assistant both signalled for a
corner after Ahmed Al Muhamadi stopped a shot on his goal line with
his arm. But Webb eventually produced the red card and pointed to
the spot after the intervention of the fourth official.
Egypt believe the fourth official used a television replay to
advise the referee to change his decision, which goes against
FIFA regulations.
Egypt assistant coach Gharib Chawki freely admitted that the
decision was correct and Al Muhamadi, who went down clutching his
face in a bid to fool the officials, should have been sent off but
that it shouldn’t have been based upon the use of technology.
“As far as I am aware there is no rule allowing video evidence,”
Chawki said. “We’re not contesting the referee’s decision but the
way it was made. Or maybe the rules have changed and nobody has
told us.
“Since when do the regulations say there is a penalty which is
not blown by the referee? It took three minutes to change the
decision while the player was being treated.
“The decision was changed after a statement by the fourth
official, after watching the monitor, that it should be a
penalty.
“We just want to know. We don’t object to the decision
itself.”
Brazilian coach Dunga dismissed the matter as “Egypt’s problem,
not ours”.
“He made the right decision,” Dunga said.
Al Muhamadi was sent off by Webb before Kaka converted the
penalty to win the match.
Samir Zaher, the president of the Egyptian Football Association,
was also flabbergasted by the events which took place in the final
minute of normal time.
“We will not protest against the penalty being awarded because
that was the right decision, but the referee did not give the
decision immediately – he gave a corner. Then he waited two or
three minutes and showed the red card and awarded the penalty.
“Why did he change his mind? Because the fourth official told
him what had happened, that is why and he had missed it.”
The incident revived discussion on the controversial sending-off
of French midfielder Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 World Cup final
for head-butting Italian defender Marco Materazzi when the ball was
at the other end of the field.
