Hommam Al Nassim 
Egyptian club Zamalek withdrew from its match with Al-Ahly club that was scheduled for Tuesday, which sparked widespread controversy in Egyptian football.
The Egyptian Professional Clubs Association announced the cancellation of the match that was scheduled for the 27th stage of the Egyptian League due to Zamalek’s withdrawal and Al-Ahly being considered a 2-0 winner, with three points deducted from Zamalek’s balance.
Zamalek faces the threat of relegation to the fourth division if it continues to refuse to play league matches, starting with the match against Ceramica Cleopatra next Saturday, as it will be considered withdrawn from the tournament.
After the cancellation decision, Al-Ahly raised its score to 45 points from 19 matches, in second place behind leaders Pyramids, which has 62 points from 25 matches, while Zamalek’s score stopped at 34 points from 21 matches before the three points were decided.
The crisis began after the end of the match between Zamalek and Al-Masry in the 26th stage on June 17, which ended with Zamalek losing 1-2, as Zamalek’s board of directors issued a statement in which it demanded an investigation into the match’s referees’ crew due to what it described as not awarding a valid goal to the team.
Subsequently, the Council decided not to play any match in the second leg of the league competition until after the end of the postponed matches in their order and appointed a neutral committee to organize the tournament.
The Club Association confirmed that the investigation into the referees is a matter for the Egyptian Federation, not the Association, and that the lack of time will not allow stopping the second-round matches until the end of the postponed matches.
The association explained that Zamalek has already played 4 matches in the second round according to the schedule announced since last February without any objection.
The Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports, Ashraf Sobhi, called for an emergency meeting on Monday morning, bringing together the President of the Club Association, Ahmed Diab, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zamalek, Hussein Labib, to discuss the procedures for organizing the league and applying the regulations to everyone, but the meeting did not result in a solution to the crisis.
Zamalek players gathered at the club headquarters in preparation for the match with Al-Ahly, but it was announced that the camp had been canceled and the confrontation would not take place due to “compelling reasons.” The association announced that the match would not be held and that Al-Ahly was considered a 2-0 winner while imposing financial penalties on Zamalek.
Zamalek is supposed to meet Ceramica Cleopatra next Saturday. If Zamalek continues to refuse to play matches, the withdrawal list will be applied to it for the second time, which may lead to it being punished by being banned from participating in competitions for a season, then returning to participate in the lower division of the federation’s competitions. It is the fourth section.
For his part, Ahmed Salem, spokesman for the Zamalek administration, explained that the club is studying the matter and will make a decision in the coming hours without haste, indicating that the club puts the interests of Zamalek first and takes into account the potential legal damages to the club.
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