UPDATED: Zamalek v Maqassa match cancelled after the former failed to show up

CAIRO – 16 April 2017: Referee Mohamed Farouk called off Sunday's match between Misr el Makasa and Zamalek clubs in the Egyptian premier league, after the latter had failed to show up.

Twenty minutes after the offical time to start the game, Zamalek club was considered officially withdrawn and the opposing team was recognized the winner. The referees committee also deducted three points from Zamalek and fined the club EGP200,000, in addition to all the costs of the game, ads and broadcast rights.

The match was supposed to be held on Saturday, but the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) postponed the game for one day, saying it was at the request of security agencies as they have been responsible for securing Easter celebrations.


The Zamalek club sent a letter to the EFA requesting to put off the match until Tuesday. It then signed another one with Misr el Makasa club, demanding that the game be delayed until further notice.


However, the EFA sent an official letter Saturday to both clubs stating that the match will be held in its official time, today at 7pm.


Zamalek chairman Mortada Mansour quickly reacted to the letter, saying he will file a report to the prosecutor general because, he claims, that the letter was stamped by a fake and stolen seal of the EFA's executive director Tharwat Sweilam.


"I have a recorded call with Sweilam in which he confirmed the seal used in the letter was stolen," Mansour said in a video published on the White Knights' official website.


Meanwhile, an EFA source warned that six points would be deducted from Zamalek if the team did not show up at Petro Sport Stadium, the venue of the game.