Three arbitration experts resolved the controversy surrounding the penalty kick won by USMA against Zamalek in the first leg of the African Confederation Cup final, confirming the validity of the arbitration decision.
The Algerian team was able to achieve a fatal victory with an unanswered goal, after the referee canceled a late goal scored by Brazilian Juan Bezerra in favor of Zamalek, before returning to video technology and awarding a penalty kick in favor of USMA.
The decision came after observing a strong intervention by Zamalek defender Hossam Abdel Majeed at the beginning of the attack, and Ahmed Al-Khalidi successfully executed the kick, scoring the winning goal in the 98th minute.
Arbitration expert Mohamed Salah Abdel Fattah explained that canceling Zamalek’s goal in the 66th minute was a correct decision due to a push by Chico Panza against one of the USMA players.
He also stressed that the decision to cancel Bezerra’s goal and award the penalty kick in stoppage time was correct, as a result of a clear intervention by Hossam Abdel Majeed with his knee against the Algerian team’s defender.
This assessment was consistent with the opinion of former referees Mahmoud Al-Banna and Ayman Dejesh, who in turn confirmed the correctness of the referee’s decisions in the controversial shot.
The match also witnessed the expulsion of Moroccan player Mahmoud Bentaïj after he objected to the referee’s decisions, which will prevent him from playing in the second leg.
Zamalek is scheduled to host the return match against Ittihad Al-Capital on May 16 in Cairo, seeking to overturn the result and win the continental title.
