28/9/2024–|Last updated: 9/28/202401:04 AM (Mecca time)
The Egyptian match between Zamalek and its compatriot Al-Ahly in the African Super Cup final witnessed major objections to the penalty kick awarded by the referee in favor of Al-Ahly.
The atmosphere of the match became tense in the 37th minute when Libyan referee Moataz Al-Shalmani began communicating with the video technology referees to ensure that there was a penalty kick for Al-Ahly as a result of Zamalek defender Mathlouthi obstructing Akram Tawfiq, amid objections from Zamalek players who revolted against the referee after he returned from reviewing the situation himself through the screen and awarded it. Penalty kick for Al-Ahly.
The truth is that the violation was clearly committed by the Zamalek defender, who failed to touch or play the ball and obstructed his opponent, who had already shot the ball before the obstruction occurred. Here, confusion occurred among the fans and even the players and technical staff, who mistakenly believed that the Al-Ahly player actually played the ball, and therefore there is no violation, and this is a wrong understanding of the law. .
Article 12 of the Football Law (Faults and Misconduct) stipulates that obstruction is one of the violations for which the referee must award a direct free kick, or a penalty kick if it occurs inside the penalty area of the player who committed it, regardless of the presence of the ball, meaning that the presence of the ball is not required. Originally, to calculate the violation, which means that the referee’s decision was correct in awarding the penalty kick, but he was criticized for the long period of reviewing the clear error from the first television replay.
The match ended with Zamalek defeating Al-Ahly 4-3 on penalties after the two teams tied 1-1, winning the African Super Cup for the fifth time in its history today, Friday.
Al-Ahly, the CAF Champions League title holder, opened the scoring with a penalty kick in the 44th minute, scored by Palestinian striker Wissam Abu Ali. Zamalek dominated the second half and succeeded in scoring the equalizer in the 77th minute, with the foot of substitute Nasser Mansi.
The two teams resorted to penalty kicks, with Zamalek winning the victory after Al-Ahly missed two kicks by Yahya Attiya Allah and Wissam Abu Ali.