EFA refuses a Qatari referee for Egypt games in World Cup

CAIRO – 17 November 2017 : Egyptian Football Federation (EFA) member, Essam Abdel Fattah, stated on Friday that FIFA understands the Arab Quartet’s political boycott of Qatar, which is why they will never designate a Qatari referee for the games that Egypt and Saudi Arabia will play in the World Cup.

Six Arab referees are expected to appear in the World Cup in Russia; Gehad Grisha from Egypt, Mohamed Abdallah from UAE, Fahd El Merdasi from Saudi Arabia, Mahdi Sharef from Algeria, Nawwaf Shokr Allah from Bahrain and Abdel Rahman El Gassem from Qatar.

“El Gassem will not be delegated to referee for Egypt’s or Saudi Arabia’s games in the World Cup. If that happens, we will object,” Abdel Fattah told press on Friday.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Tunisia will represent Arab nations in the World Cup; this is the first World Cup to witness four Arab countries competing in it.

On June 5, Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Libya and Yemen decided to cut all diplomatic ties with Qatar, hurling allegations that the state supports terrorism. Ports and airspaces were cut off to Qatari vessels.